Plastic straws disappearing from Auckland food stores

Wednesday, 20 December 2017

A number of Auckland food places are calling time on plastic drinking straws and opting for environmentally friendly alternatives. 

Bars and cafes across the country have also followed suit and started using stainless steel or paper straws.

Octo cafe in Newmarket used drinking straws made from plants that were fully compostable.

Co-owner Albert Au said it was a moral choice to opt for biodegradable products. 

**READ MORE:

* Gore business The Thomas Green is phasing out plastic drinking straws

* Straw habit needs to be broken to wean us off plastic

* Christchurch bars ditch single-use plastic straws

* Council aims to curb use of plastic straws in Wellington restaurants

* Plastic straw ban snug fit for New Plymouth bar**

'We would love to do our bit to make the world a bit better,' Au said.

'I like to see it as a long-term investment for our next generation.'

Earlier this year Takapuna resident Shay Lawrence started Caliwoods, a business which sold reusable and biodegradable straws.

'It's a way to have a voice for positive change,' Lawrence said.

About 250,000 Caliwoods straws have been sold and were now being stocked in more than 130 places around New Zealand.

'We have to do what we can to not let our consumption now, affect people in the future.'

Sustainable Coastlines co-founder Camden Howitt said over the years the organisation had picked up 55,567 straws from beaches around New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

'This represents the 10th most common item we find on our coasts, around 3 per cent of all items,' Howitt said. 

With food places phasing out plastic straws across New Zealand, Howitt said people had become increasingly aware of their impact on the oceans, he said.

Wellington City Council had planned to bulk purchase paper straws to help its local food places make the switch to more sustainable alternatives.

Auckland Council's waste solutions general manager Parul Sood said it would be interested in looking at how to implement a similar straw trial like the one in Wellington. 

'Reusable straws are preferred over single-use straws, if they are needed at all.'

Auckland Council had investigated the use of bylaws for these kinds of purposes but it was not something it was able to do, Sood said.

'It will need to be done as national legislation, which we would support and advocate for.'

Fast food restaurant Nando's had removed straws from all of its New Zealand restaurants.

Nando's marketing manager Michal Evans said it was a 'conscious move to make a small, yet positive, change that will impact our environment'.

'We didn't see them as a necessary item to have in our restaurants and decided to delete them a few months ago,' Evans said.

A poll on Neighbourly found that across 48 central Auckland suburbs, 78 per cent of residents who took part thought restaurants and bars should stop giving out plastic straws while 22 per cent disagreed.