Dublin hotspots are now serving compostable straws and we are delighted

By Geraldine Carton
18th Jun 2018

Dublin hotspots are now serving compostable straws and we are delighted

Plastic straws are awful. Not only are they adding to the world’s ever-mounting landfill sites and among the top 10 items found on beaches, but they are ruining our seas, lakes and oceans and killing the aquatic wildlife that resides within.

The stats

Current figures state that eight million tons of plastic rubbish flow into the world’s oceans every year, with reports of marine life entangling themselves – or worse, ingesting* the straws – on a daily basis. The mortality rate following ingestion is a harrowing 50%, and it’s thought that if trends continue, by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.

*Watch this video if you need any convincing as to the horrors of straw ingestion by aquatic wildlife.

Steps toward change

Earlier this year Westport in Co. Mayo became the first town in Ireland to ban the use of plastic straws. “We are a coastal town and want to preserve the wildlife and nature in Westport,” said Rhona Chambers, a member of the Tidy Towns committee. “Getting rid of plastic straws helps us to do that,” she told the journal.ie.

It seems that McDonald’s took inspiration from the Westport decision, as only recently the food giant announced that it would be replacing plastic straws with paper ones across all its Ireland and UK outlets from September. This comes alongside an increasing number of pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants across the country getting amongst the plastic-free practices.

The final straw

Laura Arnold, Head of Marketing and PR at Press Up (the group responsible for some of trendiest dining and drinking hotspots around the country) told us about the group’s efforts to lower the level of plastic used across their premises;

“The first step here was to remove plastic straws from circulation across all venues and introduce compostable paper straws, which are available only when requested. For those venues where paper straws aren’t feasible (Wowburger and Stella Theatre as they use the soft drink cups with lids) we have sourced compostable straws that look and feel just like plastic.”

This is a very welcome development in the hospitality industry, and in an effort to show our appreciation for those who sip on the right side of history, we’ve listed the Dublin bars and restaurants that are now stocking compostable straws. Feel free to get in touch if there are any that we’ve missed.

Because cocktails taste better when sipped through compostable straws…