The Town of Nantucket, via the new ACKLocal platform and in collaboration with ReMain and the Maria Mitchell Association, launched a campaign to stop the use of plastic straws on February 23rd (National Skip the Straw Day). Organizers say that the goal is to reduce unnecessary waste and to protect our oceans from plastic pollution. It is estimated, conservatively, that 3 million plastic straws are used on Nantucket just during July and August! We are really excited to be joining cities and towns around the world working to reduce single-use plastic pollution, starting with straws.
The campaign involves:
– A Pledge to be signed by participating restaurants and vendors
– Screening of the Straws movie
– Public outreach and education through various events and activities
– Advertising in the Inquirer and Mirror, who has been a very generous early supporter
From the organizers: “We have been putting various paper straws through their paces to see which ones hold up the best as we know that some of them tend to fall apart quickly. We will shortly have more information (contact info, purchasing, pricing etc) which will also be available on our web page. The company that has the best, as far as we can see, as well as having several size options, is Preserve and they do sell bulk.”
More information will be available on the Town website shortly:
http://www.nantucket-ma.gov/1131/Stop-The-Straw
Stop the Straw Whats Whys and Hows