MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Stars Restaurant and Coffee Shop is leading the charge in the fight against plastic waste. The restaurant has replaced all plastic straws with a biodegradable version and is working hard to do the same in other avenues too.
Less than than 9% of all of the plastic used every day gets recycled. That is according to a 2017 report published in the scientific journal Science Advances. Instead, most of it ends up floating in the ocean or in landfills. In 2015, plastic consumption worldwide totalled over 300 million tons; of that, some 79% ends up in the natural world, with another 12% getting burned up in incinerators and ultimately being released into the atmosphere.
It is estimated that 1 million seabirds, 100 000 marine mammals and countless fish are killed as a direct result of plastics, each year. According to the journal, if current production and waste management trends continue, roughly 12 000 tons of plastic will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050.
"It's not something that happens overnight," said Stars owner Dror Zur of the changes they are making. "But, we are passionate about the environment - and so are our clients - and we are working hard to remove plastic from as much of our operation as possible."
In this vein the restaurant has not only introduced straws that are biodegradable, but also take-away coffee cups and take-away food boxes.
"After much research we have opted for the Bio Straw," Zur said. The straw is made from Polilacticacids - the starch from corn cobs and other plant sources. The straws are 100% biodegradable and compostable and, under optimal conditions, would biodegrade in as little as nine weeks. While straws are far from the only culprit in the single-use plastic problem, it is a big one, with an estimated 500 million disposable straws being used in the USA each day. That, according to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town's "Straws Suck" campaign, is enough to fill 127 school buses. And, it is not just the straw that impacts the environment negatively, but its entire production and distribution process.
According to Zur, the straw is just the first step in a process to be far less environmentally impactful as a restaurant.
He outlined how, for now, biodegradable options are far more expensive than the traditional plastic products but that Stars is forging ahead, despite the additional cost to the restaurant.
Zur has challenged other tourism establishments and food outlets in Mossel Bay and surrounds to follow suit.
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