When President Trump stated his commitment to getting “back to plastic,” it sparked a barrage of positive reactions across every major communication outlet. Why? Because paper straws suck.
As an industry committed to sustainability, we’ve grown weary of these “press release policies.” Going beyond plastic straws or getting “back to plastic” stokes a debate about whether we have accepted too many ineffective environmental policies in recent years that fail to pass the proverbial sustainability smell test but make for a feel-good headline for the activist organizations behind them.
Through a recent executive order, Trump declared that it is “the policy of the United States to end the use of paper straws.”
Replacing a plastic straw with a paper one with no clear environmental advantage is just one example of a policy that gained momentum without a sound scientific…
