Giving Compass' Take:

· Although Starbucks has decided to ban straws, The Guardian explains how that doesn't necessarily mean a reduction in the company's plastic usage. The new lids designed to end the need for straws use more plastic, but the company claims the material can be recycled. 

· Environmentalists call Starbucks a “Cup Monster” with it's heavy use of plastic. What are some ways the company can encourage customers to bring in reusable cups for their drinks? What are some incentives that could encourage this action?

· Read this argument on why plastic straws are totally unnecessary.

This month, Starbucks joined a growing movement to ban single-use plastic straws, announcing it would eliminate the items from its stores by 2020. In their place, the company will be introducing strawless lids, which have a sippable protrusion. It will also make alternative-material straws available.

Starbucks already has strawless lids available in more than 8,000 of its North American stores. These were developed for its “Nitro” coffee beverages which have a creamy top and are best drunk without a straw. Now, however, the coffee chain will be making the Nitro lids standard for all cold beverages, most of which now come with straws. Cold beverages make up more than 50% of Starbucks’s beverage mix, an increase from 37% just five years ago.

The Seattle-based coffee chain estimates that this move will eliminate more than 1bn plastic straws a year across its more than 28,000 stores around the world. It’s a big win for anti-straw advocates. But is it really a big win for the environment?

Read the full article about banning straws by Arwa Mahdawi at The Guardian.