Introduction
The Surfrider Foundation South Vancouver Island Chapter encourages all local businesses, particularly restaurants and food retailers, from providing plastic straws to customers and instead only allowing paper straws, or reusable straws, upon request.
Did You Know?
Plastic by-products do not degrade naturally, but break up into infinitely smaller pieces, which get ingested by sea life
Plastic contains toxins which travel up the food chain and end up on our plates
Plastic straws fill ocean gyres
Plastic straws kill marine life and other organisms
What We Are Doing
Reaching out to restaurants and bars
Asking them to eliminate using plastic straws
Asking them to only provide paper straws on request or offer reusable glass or metal straws
Encouraging friendly competition to get other businesses to join in
Expanding awareness and creating positive change
Order your drinks without a straw
Purchase your own reusable straw available in metal, glass and bambooHelp to share this campaign, encourage your favorite businesses to contact us on our website, Facebook page or email rap@vancouverisland.surfrider.org, for resources on how to best go strawless and switch to paper on demand
Join our Facebook pages Rise Above Plastics and Surfrider SVI to get more info and share our stories
What to do with the plastics straws now?
We don’t want them ending up in the landfills!
Businesses can ask their wholesalers for a credit
Donate for craft projects to your local school, church, daycares
Let’s end the consumption of single use plastic, starting with straws, this will lead to other products like utensils, stir sticks and plastic bottles.
Business Owners Reference Guide
Suggested Signage
In an effort to protect the health of our ocean, lakes, and surrounding natural environment, we now only provide drinking straws on request. Please let your server know if you require a straw. Thank you for your support.
Alternatively, Surfrider can provide a customized file for a page-sized poster we created that will have your business name mentioned. All you need to do is print it.
Where can I find alternative straws?
Ask your wholesaler, or below are some resources to help you start looking. Ask to return plastic straws for a credit or ask us for other suggestions, we are working on, of what to do with them.
Paper
Preferred option, as they are easily recycled, works out to be about .06 cents/straw for 400+ order
– Aardvark (US) -gives 50% discount for Surfrider businesses, use promo- RESTAURANTS50
– Green Munch (Calgary)
Glass
– Enviro Glass Straw, (Cobble Hill) – Offering 5% off for 50 straws, 10% for over 100 straws and 20% for 200 or more straws with either packaging or no packaging
– Zero Waste Emporium at 1728 Douglas St
– West Coast Refill at 1319 Broad St
Stainless Steel
– Onyx (Vancouver)
– Zero Waste Emporium at 1728 Douglas St
– West Coast Refill at 1319 Broad St
Compostable
NOT recommended as the lower mainland facilities (where most of our compost goes to), do not compost plastic or plastic like materials, as there is no way to tell the difference, they then go to the landfills (re: Recycling Hotline 604-732-9253). Only truly compostable if packaging states a certification symbol and then only suitable mainly in industrial facilities.
Eco-ware (Victoria)
Only recommended if you have a facility that can actually can handle plastic compostables. We are not aware of any at this time.
Biodegradable
NOT recommended as it does not break down efficiently in a landfill, not compostable or certified as safe, for the natural environment, once degraded.
*Be aware- Straws can come wrapped in plastic covers; and there are some paper straws that have a thin plastic coating. Ask before ordering to ensure you are getting the best environmentally friendly products.
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Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws
– Plastic by-products do not degrade naturally, but break up into infinitely smaller pieces, which get ingested by sea life
– Plastic contains toxins which travel up the food chain and end up on our plates
– Plastic straws fill ocean gyres
– Plastic straws kill marine life and other organisms
Did you know approximately 500,000,000 single use plastic drinking straws are used and discarded every day? That is enough straws to fill 46,400 large school buses per year! This totals out to around 12 million pounds of plastic waste over a year and they are not recyclable. These petroleum plastics are designed to last forever and many of these straws break down into what’s known as micro-plastics and pollute our drinking water, sea salt and seafood.
Straws are often littered, or caught by the wind, and washed into storm drains that empty into streams and other waterways, ultimately ending up in our ocean and on our beaches. Plastic straws rank in the top 10 for marine debris. 44% of all seabird species and 22% of cetaceans have ingested plastic.
Plastic straws are difficult or impossible to recycle and even biodegradable plastic straws are often discarded in landfills and do not biodegrade when littered in a marine environment or if they are not in the right industrial environment.
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Report on Compostable and Biodegradable Plastics
Learn the differences between the different types of alternative plastics, and why some can be problematic.
Certified Compostable Products
To search for certified compostable products visit the Biodegradable Products Institute website
Frequently Asked Questions
Eco-Cycle has put together a list of their most frequently asked questions about going plastic Straw-Free
List of Alternatives
The Last Plastic Straw has put together a list of alternatives on their website
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The Long Beach Lodge Resort, in Tofino, has stopped its practice of using 12,000 straws each year.
Clean Water Action in Montclair, New Jersey, said that one business, who offers straws on demand only, is using only about a tenth of the straws it typically uses on a monthly basis: 650 straws, down from the usual 6,800.
The Following Businesses Have Taken The Pledge
Fernwood Pizza Company
Finest At Sea
Indecent Risotto
The Joint Pizzeria
Stoked Wood Fired Pizzeria and Market
Victoria Event Centre
Bridgeman’s Bistro
The Churchill
Garricks Head Pub
The Keg Steakhouse + Bar
Merridale Cider and Distillery
Moby’s Pub on SSI
Everything Bagel
Little Jumbo
Strathcona Hotel
Bubby’s Kitchen
Be Love
Café Bliss
Bliss Whole Foods
Cafe select noodle house
Fernwood Inn
Spinnakers
Darcy’s Pub
The Duke Saloon
Upstairs Cabaret
Bartholomew’s English Style Pub
Shai’s Diner
Pizza Hut
Steamship Grill & Bar
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On February 3rd, Surfrider Foundation Vancouver Island Chapter (SFVI) celebrated International Plastic Straw Free Day and officially launched our Straws Suck campaign! Will your business join the movement? Or have you already gone plastic straw-free?
What’s in it for you? Surfrider will promote your success as an environmentally friendly business!
As a Plastic Straw-Free Business, Surfrider will link you to a global movement by highlighting 5 STAR and 4 STAR businesses on our SFVI website, and all tiers on our social media pages with over 4500 subscribers Rise Above Plastics Facebook page, SFVI Facebook Page and Twitter. We will also highlight 5 STAR and 4 STAR as green business leaders at our outreach events!
Get in touch with Ali to participate
Project Lead
Ali Ruddy - Rise Above Plastics
rap@vancouverisland.surfrider.org