Page 24 - Newsletter-Hotel & Hospitality industry

Of course, straws are just part of the Experimental Group, and Anantara. Cruise

monumental waste that goes into our lines and tour companies including Carnival,
oceans. “Over the last 10 years, we have Hurtigruten, Peregrine Adventures, and Coral
t produced more plastic than in the whole Expeditions have reduced or eliminated their

of the last century, and 50 percent of the use of plastic straws on their ships. And luxury
h plastic we use is single-use and is safari companies like & Beyond and

immediately thrown away,” says Tessa Wilderness Safaris are both working toward
g Hempson, operations manager for removing plastic straws from their lodges.

Oceans Without Borders, a newly
i launched foundation from luxury safari While individual actions can have a significant
impact on the environment and influence in
company &Beyond. “One million seabirds
s and 100,000 marine mammals are killed the industry, a ban from a single hotel chain
can remove millions of straws in a single year.
annually from plastic in our oceans. Forty-
n four percent of all seabird species, 22 Ananatra and AVANI estimate their hotels
across Asia used 2.49 million straws in 2017
I percent of whales and dolphins, all sea and AccorHotels estimates using 4.2 million
turtle species, and a growing list of fish straws in the U.S. and Canada last year as
s species have been documented with well.

plastic in or around their bodies.”
s But now, the plastic straw has finally “Plastic straws are one of the worst offenders
in terms of plastic pollution. By putting in
started to become an endangered
e species itself, with some cities in the alternatives and eliminating their use across
&Beyond's lodges, we are doing our part to
United States (Seattle, Washington; keep plastic out of the oceans,” says
n Miami Beach and Fort Myers Beach, Hempson.

Florida; and Malibu, Davis, and San Luis
i Obispo, California) banning them, and While not using a straw is best, some people

s some countries limiting single-use plastic prefer them or need them, like those with
items, which include straws. Belize, disabilities or sensitive teeth or gums. If you
u Taiwan, and England are among the want to use a straw, reusable metal or glass
straws are ideal. Final Straw, which claims to
latest countries to propose bans.
B Still, a company doesn't have to wait for be the first collapsible reusable straw, is
currently raising funds through Kickstarter.
the government to institute a ban before
a implementing one on its own. Soneva Hospitality brands eliminating plastic straws

banned straws in 2008, and Cayuga has have looked to various disposable
been using bamboo straws since 2010. alternatives. Paper is popular, with many U.S.
i Hotels like these have paved the way for a establishments using Aardvark to supply

d movement and the travel and hospitality American-made, FDA-approved straws that
industries are finally starting to catch on.
take 30 to 60 days to decompose. Another
n Hotel brands initiating plastic straw bans choice is compostable straws made from PLA
(polylactic acid), a plant-based bioplastic
include Four Seasons, AccorHotels North
I and Central America, Marriott made from materials like cornstarch instead of
petroleum. These straws are compostable
International in the U.K., EDITION hotels,
under the proper conditions but do not break
the Doyle Collection, Six Senses, Taj
down in water.
Hotels Palaces Resorts Safaris,