Starbucks Replacing Plastic Straws w/ Strawless Lids | Like a Sippy Cup for Adults
Starbucks is cutting down on single-use plastics!
As was announced last summer, Starbucks locations will be eliminating plastic straws from every store worldwide by 2020.
To date, thousands of Starbucks stores across the U.S. and Canada have already starting eliminating single use plastic drinking straws and in their place, they are serving all cold drinks with a strawless cold-cup lid just like the ones pictured (kind of like an adult sippy cup).
The lid that is replacing the straws is also made of plastic, but its polypropylene content can be widely recycled making the lid more sustainable and more socially responsible.
These new strawless lids will become the standard for all iced coffee, tea and espresso beverages. Paper straws or straws made from compostable plastic will be provided for Frappuccino beverages; some stores may already have these alternative-material straws available.
If you prefer a straw, consider bringing your own Eco-Friendly Reusable Straws!
That’s interesting. We recently went to NC and had no straws for our toddlers drinks at every restaurant. They spilled their drink EVERY SINGLE TIME since there was no lid. This would be a better alternative for sure.
I’m with you. I have a disabled daughter that needs a straw. I’m totally on board with eliminating waste but I hope they keep the straw option, that will not get soggy in 5 min, for those that need it.
Reusable straws are widely available and really Inexpensive.
For many disabled people reusable straws are not a feasible replacement for plastic straws. Reusable straws carry a risk of injury, are not positionable, and most are not high temperature safe.
Silicone straws are a great alternative! they are bendy, soft, and high temperature safe!
This is the one I bought for myself but there are many other options out there.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L7FKQFY/
We carry straws in our diaper bag in one of those travel toothbrush holders for when we aren’t given a straw for the little ones!!
That’s a great idea thank you!
such a great idea! I’m trying this LOL, thank you!
I always carry straws for my kids in a ziploc in my purse. My little one has this habit of taking out the straws from the disposable cups, which he eventually drops.
I have five kids, straws, an extra outfit and potty seat are always in the car. You never know what they will need.
We had the same experience this past weekend will out of town too. Spilled drinks everywhere and paper straws falling apart in the kiddos drinks 🤦🏼♀️ So we went to the store and bought straws for our diaper bag as well 🤷♀️😂
*while
Hello fellow seattlite! So nice we live in such an inventive area, hopefully the biodegradable straws and reusable nature catches on through the rest of the country.
all you have to do is ask. restaurants that are going straw-free keep the straws behind the counter and will happily give them out to people with children, or with disabilities, etc. and often, even if you just like to have one they will give you one.
their intent is not to discriminate against those who legitimately need them.
plus, i have always packed toddler cups for my children if they needed them and i was traveling.
Should have made the plastic straws, plastic lids, plastic cups , plastic spoons, plastic bags all hemp or bio degradable substance….furthermore, for every cup sold 10c goes to an environmentally active group as a TRUE CARBON TAX
Why don’t they just make biodegradable straws?! Not a big deal to do 🤦🏼♀️
Paper straws do not work.
Guess I’ll have to bring my own straw 🤷🏼♀️
I’m in Seattle and plastic straws are banned so we have compostable straws in all restaurants, including Starbucks, so we have the sippy covers and the straws.
On of our local restaurants uses dry pasta noodles! It was a little strange at first, but they don’t get soggy.
Got this at the hospital where I work and people keep asking for straws cause they don’t feel the can drink from a sippy cup
*they can
Yes, we love these lids!! I’m curious to see what they will do for frapps though.
My thoughts too. How am I supposed to drink a Frappuccino without a straw?
Cookie straws 👏🏻🙌🏻
😂😋
I fully support this lol
read the post. frappuccinos come with a straw.
Or a iced Carmel macchiato? All the Carmel sits on the bottom and sides.
you’ll get a paper straw. Last time I got a frappe, I took a handful of straws to keep in my car, my purse and in the junk drawer at home! I do rinse and reuse them until it’s time for a new one!
The only bummer is that for ice drinks you’ll be getting the melted water from ice cubes that sits on top of beverage. That’s the reason I use straws!
I had one of these lids at Starbucks this weekend. I like it!
They use these at Blaze pizza. Definitely ended up drinking less which might be a good thing for me soda wise.
I tried one of these for the first time at Blaze Pizza also, and hated it. Every time I took a drink the ice got in the way of the liquid and hardly anything came out, causing me to have to lower the drink, shake it a little to move the ice, and try again. Ugh!
This is terrible news for the little boy with autism profiled in the book Neurotribes. He calmed himself by chewing on Starbucks straws (and only Starbucks straws). I’m not sure why I thought of him immediately but now I feel like I need to hoard a bunch of straws for him! 😢
These lids are crap, guess I better stock up on some straws now and keep them in the car…Have they not addressed yet what they’ll do for frappacinos? Obviously this won’t work.
I was wondering the same thing about Frappuccino…
At the bottom of the post it says paper or compostable straws will be available with Frappuccino’s.
Starbucks does have biodegradable (non-paper) straws. I assume they’ll start appearing when they take the plastic ones away. That’s what we have now when plastic straws were banned in our city.
I’m all for getting rid of straws. I carry metal ones in my purse for my kids who are spilling machines. It’s not hard and there are SO many options for reusable now. Metal, silicone, collapsible, folding, etc. It’s a small sacrifice in the grand scheme of things.
This was a graceful and truthful comment. Way to go! I totally agree.
Completely agree!
Well said Jamie. Looks like I need to go straw shopping 😉
100%agree!
Since a statistic I saw says 34% of Americans recycle, how is the big plastic lid better than the little plastic straw, since the vast majority of Americans are going to throw the cup AND the lid in the trash?
I agree! Glad someone else sees this oversight.
I’d rather do something than nothing to help the environment. Maybe more people need to recycle instead of complaining about losing a plastic straw.
Exactly! And now people are throwing away more plastic in addition to using more resources for making new reusable straws – most likely made over seas, full of chemicals. Stupid humans!
Exactly-
This gal started a conversation with me at Starbucks the other day. She was an environmentalist and whatnot, but she thought getting rid of straws was the dumbest thing.
Getting rid of the straws is not a recycling thing it’s an animal thing. The straws are winding up in the rivers and oceans and are killing the wildlife.
But hey we will never come up with something better until we are forced to.
Ty for posting this. People don’t get it. Just a little research.
How are straws ending up in rivers and oceans?
the same way other trash ends up in the oceans. waterways are full of plastic water bottles, straws, bags, detergent containers, and all other manner of trash. it gets dumped there and people litter a profuse amount.
also, when you wash synthetic fibers, microscopic pieces get rinsed out and then end up in the waterways because they aren’t filtered out at municipal treatment plants.
I don’t think paper straws will work well with the Frappuccino drinks. I like the Java Chip Frappuccino and the chips always get stuck in the straw. I can usually work it out of the plastic straw, but I don’t think that’ll be possible with paper.
Try a silicone straw! They make big wide ones.
We should be trying our best to eliminate plastic waste, not complaining why we cant have straws. There are alternatives. If we do not eliminate the waste that we are putting into our oceans, some ocean life will not survive. Straws are such a 1st world problem.
Absolutely agree! I saw a video of a sea turtle that had a plastic straw stuck in it and they had to pull it out. Poor thing was in pain. Plastic straws are not good for the earth.
Let’s be real. Straws are a minor issue. But it gives people something to rally behind and push on others and make themselves feel better while putting others down who like their straws. Realistically if you want to talk about waste think about the appliances that now die after a few years instead of lasting forever like they used to. My water heater is 30+ years old. If I replace it a plumber told me I’d probably get 8-10 years out of it. 12 if I was really lucky. My last tube style tv lasted 4 years before dying, meanwhile I have a tv from that 80s that still works. My newest tv is starting to go after only being 3 years old. How about Apple forcing obsolescence in not allowing something to upgrade to the newest operating system even though it could because they want you to buy a new one.
So I don’t think my straw will be the death of the world, but the toxic electronics and appliances that are now designed to break within a few years… that may be another story. Check out the Lightbulb Conspiracy on youtube.
This!! I had this very same conversation with my husband a few weeks ago out of frustration as my newish appliances (washer, dryer, dishwasher) all seem to be breaking down at the 5 year mark and it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them! All that metal and plastic… And the fact that I have to replace my blu ray player which is only 4 years old because Amazon told me they’d no longer support streaming on it – so it’s either replace the player, get a smart TV, or buy yet another appliance that only serves one function. And the phones make me sick – I hate upgrading (and paying for) perfectly usable phones every 3 years, but the apps I need just stop working and I’ve got all these bricked phones in otherwise pristine condition just sitting in my desk drawer. I won’t miss straws as I don’t use them much anyway and pick up a depressing amount off the beach on my weekly walks, but it does seem ridiculous that this is what people are fretting about.
I totally agree that appliances and electronics don’t last very long anymore. But if you make an effort to find them, there are places that recycle most of the components. Our local computer repair shop recycles all kinds of electronics!
John you are right on target. 100%! Straws are nothing compared to electronics. I have been working with Apple and PC’s almost 40 years. We send a lot of old product to the local Recyclers. Note: It always is about MONEY. ALWAYs! Including how Starbucks does their “feel good work”. Believe me they will some how make more money with this change.
Truth!!! Well said.
Bingo! Just replaced my 4 year old coffee maker that failed beyond repair. What a waste of resources.
About time!
So instead of plastic straws we get plastic lids? I’m having a really hard time understanding the logic here.
Plastic straws aren’t recyclable. Plastic lids are.
But most people don’t recycle – so there’s that
Sort of off topic but what annoys me so badly is the people who abuse recycling centers and throw all their trash in there as well!! 😡 And WHY is it so hard to break down a darn cardboard box!? Drives me crazy, people are so lazy.
YES! Nor do they wash out the containers, which is a main reason why China won’t take our recyclables. In our area, they used to take plastics #1 – #7 , but now they will only recycle #1 & #2, along with cardboard & aluminum. (if you put other plastic in the bins, they’ll take it, but it gets sorted out at the recycling facility to be dumped in the trash mounds).
I drop off glass jars, that I won’t be able to reuse myself, at my local Target along with plastic bags.
I only recycle because our city will only permit me with one large trash can. 😒
There are plenty of other reasons to recycle.
Right? After reports that China is no longer taking our plastic recycling?
Hey but why should China have to take our recycling…..bit of a 1st world attitude to expect that.
Slow your roll there, Tori 😂 I can see from your response you’re passionate but a bit uninformed. What is elitist is assuming that we (and 70% of the world, all of which isn’t “first world”) was dumping our trash on China, instead of recognizing that Chinese businessmen and women (the first female Chinese billionaire was a recycler) with foresight and acumen BOUGHT our plastics, recycled and manufactured it into other products, sold it, and made a mint. My comment was out of concern that this doesn’t really mitigate our plastics use, which currently has few places to go as the US doesn’t have the same capacity currently as China to recycle these plastics.
You were already getting a plastic lid. Now, you will be getting a different plastic lid and no wasteful straw.
It’s a wildlife thing
Our Starbucks actually gave me one of these a couple of weeks ago! It was great!! I was disappointed the next time when I didn’t get it and got a straw instead!
I swear I get a drip or two on my clothes every time I drink out of lids like this😩
I guess you will have to practice with water and your swim suit on a hot day.
I’m happy to see this! Yes people are still going to throw away a plastic lid and cup, but no straw. A small change can make a big difference in the long run. I saw a lady with one of these lids last month and was happy to see it! Now I request it when I forget my reusable cup. I keep reusable straws handy for my daughter since she drinks milk most of the time and those containers don’t come with a straw anyway.
Paper straws are an absolute joke—they’re soggy in 2mins. Metal straws are great 🙂 We keep them on hand around the house, but I can see us ordering more to keep in the car or my purse once places around us start ditching them. And there are collapsible metal straws that come in a little Tic Tac-like container for easier transportation.
Wal-Matt in Vancouver WA has biodegradable straws for $2.97 (somewhere in that range) for 30-40. We have bought them before and they work great can’t tell the difference. I couldn’t find them online but they were on a clip type hanging thing in the juice area.
Would absolutely love to know more about these.
I say ban all fast food places. Less straws, less styrofoam, less grease being dumped, healthier humans and environment. Forget Small straws. Aim higher. If we can ban straws we can ban fried junk and sodas. 🤷🏻♀️
🤣 talk about overreach…
To that end lets ban vegetables as well. They taste horrid, required extraordinary amounts of land (deforestation and wetland issues), use chemicals especially fertilizer which is toxic and poisons our water streams, use up a wasteful amount of water to grow, not to mention the resources used to clean, process & cook them, are extremely expensive by comparison, etc etc. In other words you can find a negative or positive argument for everything…..lol
LOL!
It’s not about the plastic so much as it is about the straws. They are harming and killing the marine life.
I don’t care for the paper straws so I’ve resorted to ordering reusable metal straws off Amazon. They fold up, come with a brush and a small container to store them. My teens have gotten in the habit of sticking one in their pocket when we head out.
We will all adapt just like we did before there were straws and then all of sudden we had straws….
My county has banned plastic bags. People are very whiny about it. We used to used paper and people were fine. Now we need to use reusable. I don’t know why it’s so hard.
We have several of each of these!
Exclusive Portable Metal Straws… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RFQTJHW?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Collapsible Reusable Straws, 2… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SZ8ZBT8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
This one is 50% off today with a coupon -https://www.amazon.com/Exclusive-Telescopic-Stainless-ATOZEDO-Collapsible/dp/B07RFQTJHW/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
Collapsible Reusable Straws, 2… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SZ8ZBT8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Ty!!
The paper and eco friendly straws contain corn and are not safe for me or my children. Very sad.
Lots of places are moving toward corn-based “eco” plastics. Also, some paper straws also contain a very common allergen, gluten. That alienates a lot of people. Be careful!
Amanda – I have a gluten and corn allergy too and so does one of my daughters. It is so hard to navigate since they don’t have to label corn as an allergen. Like the plastic bottles Dasani and Aquafina uses corn plastic bottles and the corn leeches into the water. I have had reactions to drinking these. I am going to have to start bringing my own cups and straws to Starbucks.
Having worked at a zoo for several years, i had to constantly tell people that we did not carry lids or straws for the safety of the animals. I can’t tell you how many people threw an absolute cow about us not having straws. i always thought it was the most absurd thing to throw a cow about. sure, there are always individuals in actual need of straws, and for those people i felt genuinely bad for, but for the most part seeing grown functioning adults whine about this most trivial thing was the high/lowlight of many days. Eventually theyd get used to it, accept it, and plan accordingly the next time they paid a visit. Or they just swallowed their pride and inconveniently drank from the cup.
The sippy cup uses more plastic than the old style lid and straw does. And I’ve seen no actual evidence that straws are harming wildlife in particular- it’s plastic in general! So this is a bad move on Starbuck’s part in my opinion. Interesting article in the Chicago Tribune: https://www.chicagotribune.com/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-straws-drinking-ocean-pollution-movement-coffee-stirrers-plastic-straw-0618-story.html
And metal straws can be dangerous. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/07/09/metal-drinking-straw-fatally-impales-woman-england/1684768001/
Starbucks and other companies that serve their drinks in plastic should provide recyclable bins in their restaurants for them. It’s all fine well and good if they are recyclable, but if there’s no place to put them they just get thrown in the garbage. That compiles up a lot more than small straws.
We get these tops with the nitro cold brew and I like it 😁
And… I think you can bring your own reusable cup to Starbucks. So if you don’t like their cups or lids or straws, it’s a very simple solution. Bring the cup & straw that you like. They sell reusable hot cups and cold cups.
Yes! That’s why I always keep a package of red vines in my purse just in case!!!! Lol
Last weekend at a downtown festival we talked with the county recycling program director. He rolled his eyes about the straw thing and said disposable diapers and Styrofoam are the huge problem. Looks like we are all barking up the wrong tree.
Ridiculous. These cups use more plastic than regular cups WITH straws!
They had these in mexico on a recent cruise 🙂
They make biodegradable straws that are environment friendly, the supply cup makes me think I’m going to spill it all over myself lol
Most of the time when I go somewhere don’t use a straw and if they try to give me a lid I will say no lid. How does everyone clean there straws? They only get so clean even with the brush and the dishwasher doesn’t help because the whole is so tiny.
Most people don’t need a straw unless you get your drink togo.
They sell silicone or metal straws that are very inexpensive. They will last forever and I won’t even notice that it’s in there. I will just carry them around with me in my purse. I think it’s an easy alternative for all the mama’s with small or special needs children.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/world/europe/metal-straws-death.amp.html
My 94 year old grandmother lives in a nursing home if they did not use straws she would not be able to drink.
I use a straw to protect my teeth. I am surprised nobody mentioned that. Straws help bypass the acid from drinks, including coffee, from getting on your teeth. Although I think using less straws is better for the animals. There are bigger problems that consume the ocean…water bottles. Water bottles are the thing I pick up the most at the beach.
Isn’t there a country (Sweden?) that has compacting vending machines for recycling? We should be doing this.
Until consumers get fined for not recycling, like a $0.05 deposit, etc. they will not recycle like they should.
We are our own worst enemy.
I ordered some silicone straws from amazon. They fold in half and you can keep them in a little pouch in your purse. The texture is a little different than plastic, but it works.
Personally I think a more holistic approach is to evaluate how much you need addicting beverages like coffee and soda. If everyone tried to drink more water we may find that you wouldn’t need overpriced coffee drinks and soda as often. Or you could learn to make them at home and save money/garbage that way. Most people find that they feel SO much better once they reduce the intake of these items.
Should have made the plastic straws, plastic lids, plastic cups , plastic spoons, plastic bags all hemp or bio degradable substance….furthermore, for every cup sold 10c goes to an environmentally active group as a TRUE CARBON TAX
Good thing they are concerned about the plastic straws.
So, in an effort to reduce waste or save the turtles they are eliminating plastic straws BUT still using PLASTIC CUPS AND PLASTIC LIDS. Got it!!!
Maybe it’s an effort to make more money by reducing costs, instead of eliminating straws.
They still have too much plastic…in their cups/lids…it is not only the straws taht should be banned!
Look @IslasBaleares in Spain: all single used plastic has been banned by law! It is possible to archieve if there is a will to do so.
Great!! I guess I’m going to have to go out and buy several boxes of plastic straws now just like I did the real 100 watt incandescent light bulbs before the do-gooders made them hard to find as well.
Why not just replace the current straws with the “better” plastic they’re planning on using for the “sippy cups” and call it a day?
Honestly, the comments on Facebook on this issue are ridiculous. “I’m getting all my coffee somewhere else! Starbucks is a leftist monster!” Honestly, die-hard coffee fans don’t leave businesses and settle for second-favorite coffee over cups. Put my DD cold brew in a shoe if you want; I still want that coffee.
I grew up with paper straws….ooops just dated myself. But really paper straws worked well even with thick milkshakes.
The drinks and lids are still made from single use plastic!