Businesses Get Rid of Straws to Be Sustainable & Grow Sales
In the ongoing campaign to rid the planet and local neighborhoods of unsustainable products, businesses have targeted a ubiquitous utensil – straws.
Seen everywhere in foodservice and hospitality establishments, these tools contribute to polluting the earth and waterways, causing harm to the ecology, animals, bird, fish and humans. They also make our global habitat unpleasant.
Large and small restaurants, hospitality businesses along with grocery stores are heeding the call and jumping on the sustainability bandwagon not only for the good of humanity but also for their companies’ bottom lines. And there’s nothing wrong with making money as you protect the environment.
Evergreen Packaging, a global leader in fiber-based packaging solutions, recently released a report based on data from the annual EcoFocus Trend Study, which forecasts key trends that will shape the American food and beverage industries in the near future. Now in its ninth year, the EcoFocus Trend Study examines how consumer attitudes, actions, preferences, and values are reshaping grocery purchasing decisions. The Responsible Packaging Shoppers (RPS) are emerging as a trend-setting segment of shoppers that should be reckoned with.
“The critical take away from the latest study and report is that there is a growing consumer group that is consciously making their purchasing decision based on packaging material, its perceived recyclability, and corporate commitments to sustainability. Through our work with EcoFocus Worldwide we are able to help our customers stay ahead of the most important trends and to make decisions based not only on the customer of today, but the customer of tomorrow as well,” observed DeWitt Clark, vice-president of sales and marketing North American Packaging for Evergreen Packaging. “Without a doubt, the consumer expectations we are seeing now will have a lasting impact on the shopping experience and the packaging expectations for many years to come. It is vital information for any leader in food and beverage sales at the grocery level.”
Of the general grocery shopper population in 2018, RSPs now make up 59%, which has grown 16 percentage points from 43% since 2013.
The trend line is quite evident.
This consumer segment believes that recyclable and renewable are the foundations for responsible packaging. The importance of packaging becomes even more prevalent when taken in the context of healthy foods and beverages. Responsible Packaging Shoppers insist on packaging that aligns with perceptions of the contents: healthy packaging for healthy foods and beverages, and recyclable packaging for natural and organics.
In other words, responsible packing shoppers are more likely to do business with your restaurant or hotel/motel if you shun straws and other unsustainable utensils.
Recently, a ferry company banned plastic straws, amid consumer ovations because straws on waterway vessels are quite likely to make their way into rivers and ocean.
USA Today reported that Marriott Hotels will be eliminating plastic straws from its 6,500 hotels within the next year. This is noteworthy not only because of the sheer scale of the ban, which will reportedly eliminate 1 billion plastic straws and a quarter-billion stirrers annually, or that hotels are sort of a ground zero for beverage consumption, but also because a significant number of these properties will be in beachfront locations and/or other areas of natural beauty.
Consequently, these are potential locations where plastics can easily escape the waste stream and make their way into the natural environment.
There’s much more to the plastics pollution problem than mere plastic straws. However, the speed at which plastic straw bans have taken hold around the world is an encouraging sign that when working together we, society in general and businesses in particular, can achieve consensus and sustainability, and decisive action on problems that once seemed intractable.
Additionally, supermarket Wegmans plans to reduce in-store plastic made from fossil fuels by 2 million pounds this year and seeks to eliminate 10 million pounds by 2024. The national chain is targeting packaging and other single-use plastics.
So far in 2019, Wegmans reports replacing plastic straws and drink stirrers with renewable fiber alternatives at all of their corporate work sites and 98 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.
To help reach its goal for this year, the company is collaborating with the Center for Sustainable Packaging at Rochester Institute of Technology to identify alternatives. Wegmans anticipates replacing some current packaging with materials made from plant-based renewable fiber.
“We need to ensure packaging is functional and performs as expected, which is key to reducing food waste,” noted Jason Wadsworth, Wegmans packaging and sustainability manager. “But, it must also use materials efficiently and responsibly, and be recyclable whenever possible.”
So it makes sense for large and small restaurateurs, hotel/motel owners and grocery store proprietors to look into substituting old-fashion straws for ecologically friendly ones and other sustainability products that will help the environment and build their businesses.
Actually, straws make up a small portion of plastic waste, but over-emphasizing efforts to get rid of them could inspire a more comprehensive approach to foodservice sustainability that would have a much greater impact than just focusing on straws alone. As off-premise sales continue to grow for restaurants, foodservice packaging will only proliferate, so it’s important that eateries invest in packaging that’s more sustainable from the start and help consumers dispose of it responsibly.
To further cut down on the amount of foodservice packaging that ends up as waste, restaurants and hospitality facilities should make sure they’re purchasing recyclable materials and disposing of them properly. A high percentage of restaurant operators report that they recycle, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2017 Restaurant Sustainability Survey, which found that 29% of restaurants recycle rigid plastics such as cups, some 22% recycle cling wrap and other flexible plastics, and 65% recycle paper and cardboard.
If the straw ban and sustainable foodservice applications has attracted your interest, here is a partial list of products you can acquire now.
- Aardvark straws: paper straws rigid enough not to break down in your drink biodegradable and 100% compostable.
- Lolistraws: edible paper compostable straws, marine degradable, seaweed based.
- Harvest straws: these are straws made out of straw.
- Be organic glass straws: made in Bali, reusable and can be cleaned and sterilized.
- Stainless steel bendy straws: These stay cold while you drink your cold drink.
- Eco straws: in a wide range of materials including stainless steel, glass, natural bamboo and titanium.
- Silicone straws: non-toxic, food grade silicone.
- Ice straws: a mold allows you to make your own straws in the freezer. The mold is made of silicone rubber and will make six 8-inch straws of whatever liquid you like. (Won’t your lips freeze, though?)
- Noodle Straws: Extra-long pasta tubes that you can dispose of right after they ruin your drinking experience.
Sustainability can boost your business. So join the conversation or start one about small businesses and sustainability. Tell your trading partners, customers, media and local officials about your activity to help your neighborhood. You may be surprised by the number of people you will quickly attract as followers.
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