McDonald's and Ikea say they're doing away with plastic straws.

Jimmy's Bar & Restaurant in Aspen was one of the first places in Colorado to ban plastic straws. If you want a straw there you'll have to ask for one and it will be a compostable type. Marble Distilling Company and their Marble Bar at The Hyatt Residence Club in Aspen is taking it to a whole other level. There your $6 specialty cocktail comes with a reusable stainless-steel straw. I can't say I've ever used a steel straw.

McDonald’s recently announced it will switch to paper straws at all its locations in the UK and Ireland, and begin swapping them out in test markets across the US later this year. Ikea is taking even more drastic measures. The furniture company says it will stop selling all single-use plastic products including straws, plates, cups, freezer bags, garbage bags, and plastic-coated paper plates and cups. Its restaurants plan to stop giving out plastic straws, cups, plates, cutlery, drink stirrers and plastic containers for any of their prepared food.

I understand that plastic is a problem and sadly only about 9% is recycled. Plastic takes over 400 years to degrade. In the 60 years since plastic became the mainstay for so many products, billions of tons have been produced and most of it winds up in landfills. That's all bad news but will a ban on plastic drinking straws really make an impact or is all this just big company PR hype?

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