Starbucks, the formerly elite coffee chain that is now a stalwart of middle-American strip malls, has announced that it will phase out plastic straws by 2020. All 28,000 of the company’s outlets will ditch them over the next couple of years. Instead, the chain will offer “recyclable strawless lids and alternative-material straws, like paper or compostable plastic,” CNBC reports.
It’s hard to look at videos like this, which capture the hideous despoiling of the Pacific Ocean by plastic waste, and not cheer Starbucks’ decision. According to estimates, the world’s oceans are home to more than 165 billion tons of the stuff, and they have a terrible effect on wildlife. Plastic is a highly useful product—durable, flexible, and cheap to produce. But a consequence of its durability is its resistance to decomposition. It’s easy to make, but hard to get rid of.
