There is no need for another 100,000 plastic straws to end up in Wellington harbour. The technology is here. With a world is awash in plastic waste Wellington can help a great deal by stopping the use of one-time-use plastic containers and packaging that will immediately go into our landfills, into our streets, into our drains and into our ocean.

Most straws are used only once before being thrown away and take up to 200 years to break down. Some bars used up to 800 straws a day over the summer period. Single use plastics, including straws, make up more than three-quarters of all the 1.3 million litres of rubbish they've removed from New Zealand beaches.[1]

Wellington City Council has said it plans to bulk purchase paper straws to help its local food places make the switch to more sustainable alternatives. [2]

Wellington Hospitality Group, which owns 25 venues throughout Wellington has already stopped using plastic straws. Group retail manager Andrew Williams said all its bars and restaurants had been trialling the "no straw approach" for months, and most customers had embraced it.[3]

Our beautiful, coastal and windy city has been contributing an outsize amount of pollution to an environment that is not coping - It has to stop. Wellington leads the world in our own special ways - let's make Hospo-Go-Bio and add another!

1 - https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/347498/contributing-to-plastic-waste-the-last-straw

2 - https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/99987970/plastic-straws-disappearing-from-auckland-food-stores

3 - https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/101706914/wellington-hospitality-group-to-stop-using-plastic-straws