The push to ban plastics from your favorite restaurants, cafes and even your home is gaining momentum. Look no further than one of the world’s most popular coffee chains to gauge just how militant liberals have become in their misguided attempt to preserve the environment. Starbucks has nearly 30,000 locations across the globe. You will not find a single plastic straw at these locations by 2020 as part of an effort that is supposed to save our sensitive environment.
It is certainly honorable to reduce the corporate and consumer carbon footprint, unnecessary waste and the use of potentially environmentally hazardous materials. However, companies like Starbucks are tasked with replacing plastic items with substitutes that might end up just as bad, if not worse, than plastic.
Consider the fact that Starbucks will soon replace its plastic straws with lids. Those who work in the industry question whether such lids are superior to plastic straws in terms of usability and supposed environmental benefits. Such straw-free lids feature a protrusion that facilitates sipping. Starbucks executives have also stated the company will eventually provide straws made of an alternative material.
Most Starbucks fans are well aware of the fact that the company already provides straw-free lids in over 8,000 North American locations. Such straws were created for the company’s Nitro beverage. The Nitro lids will soon be featured on all cold drinks sold by the company; the majority of which currently feature straws. Cold beverages comprise more than half of the company’s beverage offerings. The question is whether this straw substitute is really that much better for the environment across posterity.
Starbucks’ brass likes to brag the company plans to cut out a billion plastic straws in its 28,000 stores across the globe. However, Starbucks executives neglect to address the fact that consumers favor plastic straws as opposed to the allegedly greener lids with protrusions for sipping. Starbucks fans report the replacement lids are remarkably thick and obtrusive. In fact, this replacement is heavier than the existing straw and lid combination. There is a question as to whether such thick and heavy lids will prove better or worse for the environment. Though Starbucks executives are willing to admit the new lids will use even more plastic than the current straws, they argue straw-free lids comprised of polypropylene will prove greener as this material is a recyclable plastic. Company executives argue such lids can be captured by recycling machines quite easily compared to straws.
In the end, some customers will deviate away from companies like Starbucks as they prefer the convenience and familiarity of traditional plastic straws. The average customer does not care whether a replacement lid is greener than conventional straws — they care about their commercial experience. The unfortunate truth is more than 90% of the world’s plastic is thrown away rather than recycled. Nearly one-third of our country’s material for recycling was exported to China until the country put a stop to the importation of plastic waste in 2018.
One has to wonder: where will we place and subsequently recycle our remaining plastic and plastic substitutes if China is no longer willing to accept our trash? There is no easy answer to this question, yet companies are also stumped as to how to replace plastic without alienating loyal customers.
Ask Seattle residents about the city’s transition away from plastic, and you will find most are frustrated they cannot find an alternative to plastic utensils for hot soup. Just about every plastic substitute melts when submerged in hot liquid. Some compostable paper straws used as plastic replacements are comprised of organic materials that spur allergic reactions. Straws made of paper prove challenging for those who find it difficult to control their bite or swallow.
The moral of this story is that we should be just as fearful of the devil we do not know as we are of the devil we do know. The push to ban plastic has the potential to backfire in quite the monumental way that ultimately makes life more inconvenient for all of us.
Thankfully, this foolish venture has so-far been mainly limited to the progressive corporate world — but it’s only a matter of time before regressive Democrats in Washington take up the fight too.
~ Liberty Planet
