Reduce plastic pollution and the rate of climate change by using biodegradable straws

This is my petition to Starbucks, McDonald’s, Tim Hortons, Wendy’s, all restaurants and outlets and manufacturers using or making plastic straws, all individuals using plastic straws, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Jonathan Wilkinson, Premier Doug Ford, Ontario Environment Minister Rod Phillips, Minute Maid, President’s Choice and Capri Sun.

 https://www.change.org/p/reduce-the-rate-of-climate-change-by-biodegradable-straws?recruiter=850457004&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=psf_combo_share_message&utm_term=share_petition&recruited_by_id=af80cba0-fb92-11e7-aeda-b789ed8ac1d5&share_bandit_exp=message-19218767-en-CA&share_bandit_var=v2


 I’m writing to urge individuals, including fast food outlets, restaurants and any other location where drink straws are used or sold including food products manufactured such as drink boxes with excess plastic packaging including plastic wrapped plastic straws to please stop using plastic straws. Did you know roughly 500 million plastic straws are used everyday. Plastic straws contain non-renewable ingredients therefore it's made for single use only and admittedly thrown out.

 Straws are one of the most common types of litter around the world and they can't even be recycled so it ends up in landfills, waterways and litter. The quality of plastic used makes them non-recyclable. Even if they were recyclable given the amount of recyclable plastics that are actually recycled versus tossed out still do not make the change to recyclable plastic straws a viable option.

 When the straws end up in the environment it turns into a hazard to wildlife. Animals will mistaken plastic straws for food and end up choking on then or dying because they can't digest plastic. It's also harmful to animals habitats for example the oceans are being taken over by plastic killing off large populations of marine life. There are also recent reports of microplastics ending up in our water as the plastic begins to break down into microparticles. Research is finding evidence of these microplastics found in the tissues of wildlife. A recent article in Scientific Reports stated that “Due to the difficulties of investigating the occurrence and effects of microplastics in the field, many studies are limited to low-trophic level organisms in a laboratory setting. In such cases, ingestion of microplastics has been shown to cause a reduction in feeding and energy reserves as well as impacts on reproductive output and damage to the brain and intestinal function in invertebrates and fish”. Recently there have even been reports of microplastics found in the marine mammals in the Canadian Arctic. Beluga Whales living in the Arctic have been found to have microplastics in their gastrointestinal tracts despite the fact that there is a low human population. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/sfu-study-microplastics-arctic-beluga-whales-1.5369423 The microplastics appear to be circulating throughout the oceans penetrating areas with low human population with less apparent direct plastic pollution. This leads to the question are there microplastics in the ocean products including fish we eat if the microplastics are already found in the remote areas?

 There are many solutions to this issue like switching to paper straws or plastic straws but they don't have the benefits of being natural, compostable and able to withstand hot temperatures. There is a solution to this issue and its HAY Straws, they're 100 percent biodegradable, plastic free, doesn't get soggy like paper straws, hot temperatures approved and gluten free. You get all the benefits of a plastic straw without harming the environment. Hay straws are made from natural wheat stems and are much cheaper than paper, bamboo and metal straws.

 Plastic straws are usually used in fast food places, restaurants and bars. Restaurants will put a straw in each cup they serve, which most customers don't end up using them so it becomes waste. With Hay straws they are 100 percent biodegradable therefore it's less harm to the environment when they are thrown away or better still composted. Which also raises another issue. Why are fast food outlets and restaurants are not required to compost to help reduce waste going to landfills.

 Plastic straws are also on the packaging of juice boxes, as an eco friendly school we find that the packaging on juice boxes could be changed. Every Friday our school comes together to do recycling and as much as we advise student that straws go in the garbage they still end up in the recycling box causing contamination. Many individuals probably don't know that straws aren't recyclable. If the packaging was changed so that straws don't have to be used on juice boxes we wouldn't have to worry about contamination or extra plastic ending up in our landfills, waterways and oceans.

 Hay straws come in 2 sizes, tall and cocktail therefore they are bar friendly. They are available for purchase on the Hay Straw website or Amazon. It also comes in a pack of 100 for at home use or a wholesale of 3000 for business. If fast food restaurants, dine in restaurants and bars start using Hay Straws it would reduce the amount of thrown away plastic on our earth and spread awareness of using biodegradable straws. Thank you for reading my letter and I hope it influenced you to stop using plastic straws and finding a better alternative. I look forward to hearing back from you about this issue. Sincerely, Selina Nguyen from Fredrick Banting