Starting Nov. 1, Shark Dining started a campaign to eliminate the use of plastic straws on as many Shark Dining locations as possible. The “#Skipthestraw” campaign as it is so called, is an attempt to make a commitment to the environment and marine life. As great as this might sound on paper, the actual operations are much more lackluster.
On campus dining locations such as Flight Deck and the Razor’s Reef food court seem to be on board with this campaign but places like Starbucks are falling way behind. You can still go to Starbucks in the UC and get your favorite beverage with the trademark green plastic straw. But, that shouldn’t be the case during a campaign like this. A manager at the Starbucks explained that this was because as a franchise, they do not have the rights to make major changes to the service without corporate approval. So Starbucks itself didn’t agree to participate in this campaign. So my question is what was the point of the campaign if you knew that one— if not the largest contributor to plastic straws on campus wasn’t going to participate?
The Starbucks on campus does however, offer a lid which can replace the use of straws which provides a small spout for customers to drink from. Yet, they did not order a large supply of them. By Nov. 2, they were completely out of these lids until further notice and they didn’t exactly advertise or implement the use of the lid. It sat on the side of the pick-up counter and students were to assume they could use this lid. I don’t understand how anyone was supposed to come to that conclusion. If I would notice them — which is a big if — I would assume an employee didn’t put them away properly, not that I should reach over and replace the lid they already gave me with this spout lid.
Another major problem is the fact that most plastic straws are still readily available to students hands, even though it was said to be removed from every place possible on campus. A student that buys a drink from Razor’s Reef or Flight Deck can easily walk the extra few feet to Starbucks and grab a plastic straw in place of requesting a paper one and no one will stop them. The straws at Starbucks are always filled and there is no reason a student wouldn’t grab something that accessible. I’m not going to lie, it is very hard to break the habit of using plastic straws. I myself have struggled and slip up a few times. But if you don’t give students the option to try this new method by limiting the availability and accessibility of these straws then why would a student limit their use of them? There’s no reason to if the product is right there in front of them.
I understand that the university is trying to become more environmentally conscious through some new and unique ways but if you don’t get everyone on board, the results are going to be minimal. This campaign was poorly orchestrated and it is extremely disappointing since we are such a science-based school to not have environmentally conscious values put into practice where it would be easy to add them. Until then, I will be drinking my Starbucks from my reusable stainless-steel straw from home and grit my teeth when I see that green straw paraded around campus.
