Skip the Straw

MASSPIRG, Environment Massachusetts join call to Skip the Straw

MASSPIRG

Press statement, for release, February 22, 2019

Contact: Janet Domenitz, MASSPIRG, 617-747-4320

[email protected]

Groups Join Call to #SkiptheStraw

Boston–In recognition of the the third annual National Skip the Straw Day, MASSPIRG, Environment Massachusetts, and their colleagues around the country are calling on consumers to #skipthestraw.

“Every day should be ‘Skip the Straw Day,’” said Janet Domenitz, MASSPIRG’s Executive Director. “Nothing we use for five minutes should threaten our environment for hundreds of years. MASSPIRG’s Campaign for Zero Waste is not just about recycling anymore, it’s about reducing. And skipping straws is one small but important way we can reduce.”

Every year, about eight million tons of plastic escape into the environment and eventually the ocean. Plastic does not biodegrade, so scientists have found fragments in hundreds of species, including 44 percent of seabird species, 43 percent of marine mammal species and every species of sea turtle. Ingesting these fragments is often fatal, because animals can starve when they ingest too much plastic they can’t digest.

With that in mind, Environment Massachusetts launched its Wildlife Over Waste campaign in May 2018, targeting single-use plastic pollution. Just four months later, California became the first state to require sit-down restaurants to only disseminate plastic straws upon request. This year, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon and Rhode Island have all introduced similar legislation.

“Reducing the number of plastic straws we use is one of the easiest ways to reduce plastic pollution,” said Domenitz.

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