Editorial Board, 20 July 2018, “Protecting the Oceans, One Straw at a Time.” Chicagotribune.com, http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-straw-ban-starbucks-mcdonalds-20180709-story.html

 

A video of a sea turtle with a straw in its nose sparked outrage and now companies and cities are taking action against single use plastics. Starbucks, Hyatt Hotels, Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises and the  Chicago White Socks are all planning to jettison plastic straws within the next few years. McDonald’s also plans to switch to paper straws in British and Irish locations. Seattle has already banned single use plastic straws, and many other cities and states are considering legislation against plastic straws. Scientists predict that plastic could exceed fish in the ocean in as little as three decades. Right now for every 1 pound of fish we take out of the ocean two pounds of plastic are put in.

 

This is fantastic that big corporations are taking a stand against single use plastics. This is definitely shows a shift in consumer awareness and general concern for the state of our planet. It is quite distressing how quickly we are dumping plastic into our ocean, and how much that is changing the ecosystems that are so critical to the health of our planet. Plastic pollution is no longer something that can be avoided and I’m so glad that people are becoming more and more aware. It also is one thing for the general public to become more informed, but the fact that legislature is also being passed and major corporations are willing to change shows a real shift.