The Last Straw
Taking a stand on needless plastic waste
Americans use more than 500 million straws every day — more than one per man, woman, and child. Numerous campaigns in England and some U.S. cities have sprung up to ban these sucky polluters.
On April 18, the University of Portland in Portland, OR, became the first U.S. university to ban plastic straws at all food or beverage outlets on campus, in partnership with Bon Appétit Management Company, the university’s food service provider. A few days after UP announced its ban, a California school also went strawless, followed on April 25 by Knox College in Illinois (which, like UP, is a Bon Appétit client).
And on May 31, Bon Appétit announced that it was banning straws and plastic stirrers companywide, in our 1,000 cafés and restaurants in 33 states. The phase out has begun and will be completed by September 2019.
Bon Appétit is the first food service company — or major restaurant company — to make this commitment in the country.