Eighty-four thousand fewer plastic straws will be dumped into local landfills each year thanks to a new policy in place at Burrito-Ville. With that in mind, the Cape Girardeau favorite officially made the switch from plastic straws to biodegradable in late June.
Just as the thousands of plastic straws were taking up valuable space in the community’s local landfill, plastic straws pollute the oceans and have been known to injure and kill marine wildlife.
Not only are the straws biodegradable, but the energy it takes to produce them will be lower than plastic straws, which will produce less greenhouse gasses, Burrito-Ville spokesperson Mary Rose Roberts said. On average, Burrito-Ville disposed of 230 plastic straws per day.
The switch took place amid a national trend. Starbucks announced earlier in July it would be eliminating straws from its stores entirely by the year 2020. The worldwide corporation is transitioning from straws to strawless lids, according to the Washington Post.
President of the Environmental Science Association at Southeast Anahi Gamboa said it is apparent Burrito-Ville is trying to be environmentally aware.
Gamboa said the campus association discussed the change and agreed it was a positive move.
“It is a small step in the right direction for keeping microplastics out of the ocean, and even though it is a small step, it is a step in the right direction,” said Gamboa.
Roberts said the biodegradable straws cost more than the plastic, but the business did not want to just get rid of the straws all-together. Burrito-Ville wanted to cater to its customers as much as possible, she said.
“It’s something we’ve been looking at for years,” Roberts said.
Burrito-Ville general manager Paige Garner said the switch seems to have gone over really well with the customers.
“The straws were kind of the next step in becoming more eco-friendly,” Garner said.
Many customers might know Burrito-Ville was environmentally friendly to begin with – three years ago they began offering biodegradable to-go boxes, and customers also can purchase and reuse plastic Burrito-Ville cups. Roberts said all of the plastic used by the restaurant is recyclable, including plastic bags and lids. Roberts said the restaurant is the first in the area to change its approach to straws.
Roberts said there have been many people responding to the switch.
“You would think this was more of a millennial-based issue, but there have been people of all ages responding to it,” said Roberts.
According to Eco-Cycle, almost 500 million straws get disposed of every day in the United States.
Roberts said Burrito-Ville is conscious of its environmental impact, and this straw swap played a huge role in ensuring it reduces its impact.
