Letter to Get Better- Pecado Bueno, Stop with the Plastic Straws!

Dear Pecado Bueno,

First, I would like to thank you for having my favorite pork tacos in Seattle. Are you the most authentic Mexican food in the city? Definitely not, but your pork is no joke, and we love your deliciousness. Even better, you have managed to cultivate an atmosphere where around dinner time there are lots of real grownups having happy hour, but we don't feel unwelcome with our crazed toddler. That's a magical gift to parents who don't want to only eat at horrible chains or at 2:30.

So thank you, for your tacos and your awesomeness.

The problem is this. Anytime we order a pop or a drink at your restaurant, you already have an unwrapped straw in the glass. It makes sense with your bar/ restaurant midpoint style, but it is a total bummer. Plastic straws are a huge threat to our oceans and our sea life. The average American makes a larger volume of waste with straws than with cars, and straws are worse because they are so small they can be hard to clean up. They also get can be ingested by sea life like turtles (have you seen the videos? they are haunting). Despite the ways we know it is ravaging our oceans, American restaurants serve 500 million straws a day. That includes you. You can read a lot more about why this matters here.

Plastic will outnumber fish in the oceans by 2050 at this rate, and restaurants like yours can play a huge role in reversing this trend.

How to do it? Simple, stop serving straws no one is asking for. Studies show that most people won't ask for a straw if they aren't given one (because we all can handle a regular cup), so if you make straws by request only, you can cut down most of your straw use immediately. If you want to do even better by our oceans, switch to paper straws! They are more expensive, but if you are only handing them one when someone asks, the cost might still be less.

It's a big change, I know, and just one more thing for a business to worry about. Other restaurants are starting to take this route, and it is working. You can put up signs so your customers know what is up! Some restaurants are even using buttons. If you want more tips for how to make this switch for your margaritas and fanta (that's what we drink. Not together though, that would be gross), try The Last Plastic Straw.

I do love your tacos, but I know you could make your business that much better (especially in eco-friendly Seattle) by cutting out these harmful and totally unnecessary straws.

Thanks!

Sunshine Guerrilla

Read more

Letter to Get Better- Panera Bread

from mayefairtown.com

Hello Panera Bread,

We have been seeing a lot of each other lately; my mom lives on an island with no Panera, so when she comes to town, your salad and bagels are big treats for her. She love you so much that it is cute. Our family mostly avoids chain restaurants, but you are doing some things worth getting excited about- you have removed a ton of chemicals and fake coloring from your food, and hopefully other chains will follow suit. You talk a lot about "clean ingredients" and "transparency" in your menu, which can be rare to find at other chains. Honestly, I think things like your "No No List" is amazing for making your food look better (and your competitors' food look bad).

 I also love that when you eat there, you use real silverware and plates. That dishwasher is an awesome environmental investment, and you prevent tons of the waste other "healthy" fast casual options create. You even have compost and recycling bins (at least at our store in Seattle). You use paper bags too! In other words, most chains could learn a lot from you in terms of environmental responsibility in your everyday practices. And that is awesome.

That being said, I think we both know you could do better. Your biggest problem? Plastics

If you really want to promote "clean" eating, you have to start with the water. Do you know that by 2050 there will be more plastics in the water than fish? Gross. Do you know that plastics and the chemicals in them are probably already having an effect on our water and our health? Gross, right?

The good news is that companies like yours have real power to blaze a trail and make a difference. A few examples:

Baked goods- Your individual baked goods mostly come in paper bags (though I don't see it being recyclable), but your boxes have those little plastic windows. Why? Someone knows what they bought, and boxes without that flimsy plastic piece actually look more classy and "wholesome." If you lose the plastic, you won't lose much at all, but you will keep that much out of landfills.

Plastic Cutlery- When you get take out food, no matter what, they put plastic silverware in little plastic bags in every order. Well, we take ours home, so we don't need any of that, and I bet we aren't alone. When I specifically ask they don't include it, I throw them off, because there isn't even a button for that option, so they walk over to the kitchen to tell them.  Why not employ the "unless requested" policy suggested by the Last Plastic Straw? When I order, your employee asks me about my card, my sides, my preferences- why not just throw in "would you like plastic silverware?" at the end?

Plastic Straws- We all know that plastic straws are epically bad for the environment- the average person will make more waste with plastic straws than their cars in a lifetime. Straws are small enough that they are very difficult for clean ups, and they are horrible for sea life. Why not switch your straws out for something biodegradable like recycled paper straws? You could also do more compostable cups, but even the straw switch could profoundly improve your environmental impact as a company on the day to day.

Thank you for what you are doing, and I hope you keep it up. It's good for other companies to see you can be responsible and profitable, and your company can only benefit from pushing these goals further by eliminating or greatly minimizing the plastics you use everyday.

Read more

Throwback Thursday- Letter to Get Better- Dear Red Robin, Your Straws are Gross

Dear Red Robin Customer Service-teer,

This Tuesday, my husband and I celebrated our last pre-Lent meal at one of your restaurants, because there is no food that man loves more than a burger and fries. And yours are undeniably delicious. In fact, we have been to Red Robin plenty of times, but to be honest, it has slowed down a lot, and might even more. Here's why:

You force plastic straws on your customers.

It may seem like a little thing, but bear with me, because I am so right. At most restaurants, the server comes to the table with drinks and paper-covered straws. We politely turn them down, and save you a tiny bit of money. More importantly, it is well-documented that our oceans are filling up with plastic waste (there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050), and one time use plastics, like your straws, are a massive part of the problem.

In an average human's lifetime, we will make more waste with those little straws than cars we drive and eventually discard. The pile just one person makes can be up to the size of six cars. Of those little plastic straws! Straws are in the top ten most common pieces of sea debris. These straws cause major problems and injuries to the wildlife (have you seen the video of the turtle with a straw lodged in his head? It's a bummer).

Now, can you tell me, who needs these straws that badly? If you are trying to market towards adults, can you not trust them to use a cup? Even more importantly, WHOSE DIRTY HANDS PUT THAT STRAW IN MY DRINK? It does speak well to your regard for sanitation. I worked as a server. I know how much money and other grodiness is handled, and there are no papers protecting those straws. Do you mix my food with your fingers too? It seems so strange that such a great restaurant would have such a glaring oversight, and it's hard to understand what you think can be gained by this "service."

You are a hugely popular restaurant, so think of the amazing power you have here! How many fewer straws would go into our ocean each year if you not only stopped forcing straws into every glass, but you actually only gave straws when specifically requested? It would save you money too! I can see on your website you have a section about diminishing your waste, and some of the strides you make are awesome, but why brag about the plastic you save on cups when you know you waste absurd amounts of plastic on straws? It's such an easy step, and so consistent with some of your other missions, I think it would fit in perfectly!

Thank you, and I know you can do this,

P.S. The new pay yourself computer system is a ridiculous way to cut out labor costs. I am not going to do the work for you so you can hire fewer people and make servers cover larger sections so we get consistently lesser service. Boo hiss. If you want to save your servers' time, I think cutting out the straw step is the way to go.

Read more

Say No to Straws September

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

This month on the blog, we are going to focus on bringing down the plastic straw. We certainly aren't alone in this mission, and for good reason. There are three plastic items that are especially pointless in our daily life, yet they are chief villains in polluting the oceans:

1. Plastic Shopping Bags
2. Plastic Water (and other drink) Bottles
3. Plastic Straws

Earlier this year, a study projected that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. The ocean water should be a habitat for sustainable food and biodiversity on this planet. Sadly, with these plastics taking over (a dump truck of plastic EVERY MINUTE), babies born this year won't see an adulthood where fish are safe to eat. This is horrifying and tragic; is this really the best we can do for the next generation? Is the convenience of these items worth it for our oceans to look like this:

from the amazing Common Dreams

Don't let these daunting numbers scare you- we aren't helpless. Positive changes are happening So many groups and organizations are fighting to prevent this horrible prediction.Check out The Plastic Pollution Coalition who is fighting plastic pollution and their lobbyists on a global scale, looking into microbeads where they are still legal (and poisoning fish) and helping all these smaller groups connect.

Joining The Last Plastic Straw totally changed my perspective on my own impact using plastic straws, bottles, and bags. Join this group. It not only fights to minimize straws on a political and business level, but this California-based group really shows how one person can make a huge difference by changing their everyday choices. They challenge restaurants to:

- Only serve biodegradable straws
-Only serve straws when asked
- Stop serving straws all together

This doesn't seem like a lot to ask, but if they complete their goal of reaching restaurants all over the country, they could totally cut Big Plastic off at the knees and save literally millions of straws from the water EVERYDAY. They are making progress daily, but join up and you can help too!

Not everything is a huge undertaking- check out Activist Abby, who is organizing plastic clean ups around the Great Lakes. Read her story- even as a young teenage girl, she was attacked by the plastic lobby with the intent of preventing plastic bag bans. She fought back, got 173,000 signatures and won. As a teenager. Activists can only succeed with your help, so even if you can't get out there and clean up, locating amazing people like these and having their back can help change the world.

Want to sign against big plastic right now? Back up Californians trying to get the plastic bag ban though!

With all of this effort, things should be improving, right? Wrong. 

They are making progress, but they are fighting the rush of plastic's momentum. Big plastics lobby for the plastic bags. Restaurant continue to serve straws with every drink (as if grown adults couldn't possibly life their drink). And worst of all, we continue to consume as if we aren't part of the problem.

We are the biggest part of the problem, my dears. They couldn't get away with it if we weren't so attached to these easy plastics. If your children and grandchildren live in a world of all dirty water, it will be your fault. Not just your fault, but a shared fault. A debt we add to every time we choose these plastics.

Now, I know this is harsh, but it is true.

This blog intentionally tries to keep the "environmentalist" bar low. You don't have to buy all hemp clothes and turn off your electric to count as caring about the environment, but you do need to acknowledge your daily shopping, consuming, and tossing of waste do add up to a real effect on the environment. If we all push to make small changes, they will add up and we can change a lot of negative environmental momentum, minimize waste, and send the message to companies that it is worth their investment to do the right thing. None of us can save the world on our own, but if we all do a little, our stewardship will have incredible effects.

So I am not going to shame you, but if you care AT ALL about this Earth, then let's call this the bare minimum effort. We all can do the Bare Minimum with nearly no inconvenience or personal cost. These three items- bottles, bags, and straws, should be cut from your consumption diet.

Try cutting your straw use in half. Then cut that in half.

So why are straws so bad? Is this really worth the battle?

Oh, yes, they are truly awful.

First, in our individual lifetimes, we will make a larger volume of trash from our straws than we will from cars. So think about your car. Now fill it with straws. You will throw out more straws than that in the time you drive that car.

Second, straws are especially hard to clean up, because they are so small. You can read a lot about effort to clean the oceans, especially on the coasts which are starting to look like this:

from triple pundit.com

We need these efforts to clean the oceans to succeed for our children's future and health, so if straws make it much worse, we need to stop the incredible volume being poured into the oceans.

Third, straws are deadly to wildlife. Have you seen the turtle video? Tell me you can get through this thing and still drink from plastic straws.

Need more motivation? Join facebook groups like The Plastic Pollution Coalition and The Last Plastic Straw. Seeing how much some areas are realy facing down plastics and MAKING PROGRESS gets me excited to do more myself.

So what can we do?

from the Ocean Conservancy

This month, I am on a mission, and I want you to join me. This is the plan.

1. When you are out to restaurants and order a drink, just ask "No straws please." I am taking the No Straw Challenge, and I am taking it seriously. Please click the link and join me.

Don't even let them leave them at the table, because servers and bussers will just toss them in paper wrappers. If you need a straw for something you drink, bring one with you.

2. Pick 5 restaurants you love but that use plastic straws, and tell them to stop- Write them a review on Yelp or a note on their facebook page, and ask them to stop serving drinks with plastic straws. You can encourage them to stock paper straws instead, but let them know you think this is a flaw in your business plan. I am going to write a restaurant a letter every day, but you do what works for you. No business will change an approach if they think it is working. Use these resources to show them it isn't.

You can do a little Everyday Activism. Nothing huge, not a massive time suck, but you will help save the water from these plastics.

Need some inspiration or guidance on how to approach it? Check out the Last Plastic Straws website and see how they approach these businesses! Help encourage a voluntary plastic straw ban!

If you want bonus points, talk to your friends about the state of straws or plastic bags in your area- lots of places (especially ones on the coast, that can see the effects of these "disposable" plastics) are taking serious stands against these plastics, and they are starting to be banned all over the world. Morocco just banned plastic bags, and they were the world's second largest users. This can happen for us, and if you team up with friends, you might be able to make it happen where you live.

Not too much, right? I have certainly sent us all on more complex and crazy missions before. Who is going to try to break their straw habit with me? Do it for the turtles and future sushi restaurants, for goodness sake!

Read more