Have you ever bought a juice or a smoothie at the Raw Energy in Springfield Central and gotten offered either a reusable or paper straw?
It’s part of the local juice bar’s efforts to help save the oceans in their own little ways. Raw Energy made a vow to never use plastic straws again.
Instead of using plastic straws, the store will use carbon neutral, recyclable and compostable paper alternatives.
“Because fresh paper balls polluting your iced latte, or fresh juice is not cool, Raw Energy haven’t skimped on straw quality. We’re using paper straws made from 3 ply premium grade FSC® certified paper, sourced from managed plantations. They are carbon neutral and recyclable plus commercially and home compostable,” Raw Energy announced on their blog.
To celebrate giving plastic straws the flick, the juice bar launched the Blue Oasis Bowl. The limited edition bowl is made with blue spirulina, has a vibrant colour and is packed with nutrients.
Springfield Lakes Nature Care president Luise Manning applauded the store’s initiative, emphasizing that businesses especially cafes are now actively working to reduce pollution.
Why Ditch Plastic Straws?
Whilst plastic straws are not the biggest part of plastic pollution, they have an impact on marine life. In the past, a video of a sea turtle choking on plastic straws made the rounds online. It eventually caused the turtle to have some trouble breathing since the straw took up an entire nostril.
Raw Energy is just one of the establishments that actively joined the plastic straw ban. In 2018, coffee giant Starbucks announced to eliminate all plastic straws from its 28,000 stores across Australia by 2020. McDonald followed suit and started offering paper straws to customers in 2018.
The Last Straw, a campaign to reduce the use of plastic straws in venues around Australia, has 474 total members to date who helped save up to 13.2 million straws as of 2018.