UK-Based McDonalds Restaurants Are Phasing Out Plastic Straws
Plastic is an essential part of modern human life. It's used in our homes, our vehicles, and it's even critical for most modern medical equipment. But every piece of plastic that has ever been manufactured still exists somewhere on this planet.
Plastic straws are the 11th most littered item found on beaches around the world and sadly, they aren't easily recycled. With that in mind, wouldn't it make sense for us to use it more sparingly and wisely than we do?
In the United Kingdom, McDonald's is set to phase out plastic straws from its restaurants and are nearing the point where all of its packaging can be easily recycled.
The restaurant chain's first policy change is simply moving the straws behind the counter, requiring that customers specifically request them.
"Customers have told us that they don't want to be given a straw and that they want to have to ask for one, so we're acting on that," UK Chief Executive Paul Pomroy told Sky News in an interview.
"Straws are one of those things that people feel passionately about, and rightly so, and we're moving those straws behind the front counter."
Eventually, plastic straws will be phased out and replaced with paper straws, though it's our take that using no straw at all is the best choice for the planet. Paper straws will be tested at various locations in May.
McDonald's is not the first restaurant chain to shift away from plastic, single-use straws, but they are joining an increasingly louder call to stop using plastic straws.
Around the country many higher-end restaurants and pubs have stopped using plastic straws at the request of the nation's leadership.