Food Lover's Market ditches plastic straws

©Kichigin Aleksandr via 123RF

Says Andrew Millson, head of sustainability for the Food Lover’s Market Group, “The Withdraw the Straw project is in line with the philosophy of sustainable values, that embraces our responsibility to the environment. The facts around plastic straws are shocking and its one of the most common items found during beach cleanups. As they are lightweight and easily blown away by the wind, they often end up in our marine waters. Animals – such as seagulls and turtles – ingest these plastics which can lead to their deaths.”

The campaign aligns with other sustainability practices implemented by the retailer, such as offering recyclable boxes to shoppers instead of bags and the planned national rollout of paper bags in Food Lover’s Market stores. As of July, shoppers will have a choice of purchasing a paper bag or a box for their purchases, instead of a plastic bag.

Think twice before asking for a straw

• More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic are already floating in our oceans.

• Worldwide, 73% of beach litter is plastic: filters from cigarette butts, bottles, bottle caps, food wrappers, grocery bags and polystyrene containers.

• As of 2015, more than 6.9 billion tons of plastic waste had been generated. Around 9% of that was recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% accumulated in landfills or environment.

• Some 700 species of marine animals have been reported so far to have eaten or become entangled in plastic.

• More than 40% of plastic is used just once, then tossed.

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The main threat that plastic straws pose is to marine life. It is reported that 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually due to plastic debris and plastic straws are among the top 10 debris found during coastal cleanups. Moreover, plastic straws can take up to 200 years to degrade.

While Food Lover’s Market has introduced a paper version, Millson wants to remind shoppers that the best way to support a plastic straw ban is to refuse the straw completely.