Starting October, Old Greenwich will skip the straw!
Organized by the Greenwich Conservation Commission, Greenwich Recycling Advisory Board and BYO Greenwich, Skip the Straw Greenwich is a community partnership bringing together residents, businesses and non-profit organizations for a common cause – to skip the straw.
The campaign aims to reduce plastic waste and protect our waterways and shorelines through education and community outreach. The group is engaging local businesses and residents to stop marine trash at its source.
In Old Greenwich, restaurants will make a voluntary commitment to serve straws by request only or switch to an alternative to plastic straws. Merchants will offer for sale paper or reusable straws. Also, residents are encouraged to order drinks without a straw or carry a reusable.
Join “Skip the Straw Greenwich” for a kick-off event celebrating the launch of the Old Greenwich campaign to reduce plastic waste and protect waterways and shorelines on Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2:30 at the Old Greenwich School plaza.
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Greenwich Girl Scouts and town residents will gather with community leaders for a “Skip the Straw” welcome and proclamation by First Selectman Peter Tesei.
Partner organizations and merchants will be on site with information and goods for purchase.
So far there are six restaurants that have committed to serving straws by request only or switching to an alternative to plastic straws, including Ada’s Kitchen & Coffee, Alpen Pantry, Beach House Cafe, Le Fat Poodle, Osteria Applausi and Sweet Pea’s.
Four Old Greenwich merchants that will be selling alternatives to plastic straws are Abigail Fox, Back 40 Mercantile (stainless steel), Chilly Bear (stainless steel, reed and paper), Originals (paper).
The rain location for the event is Eastern Greenwich Civic Center. This is a free event, no registration required. For more information, contact skipthestrawgreenwich@gmail.
According to Skip the Straw Greenwich, as awareness increases and patrons begin asking to skip the straw, behavior will change for residents, resulting in “an easy win and money saver for restaurants.”
Another Skip the Straw event this weekend is a screening of the award-winning documentary Straws on Saturday
Every day in the US, millions of non-recyclable plastic straws are used once and tossed, ending up in landfills and incinerators, littering streets and polluting waterways and beaches.
Tim Robbins narrates a colorful history of straw use, and marine researchers, citizen activities and business owners discuss how they’re making a sea of change…one plastic straw at a time. Film followed by a discussion, moderated by Andrew Winston, green business strategist and author. Free event, no registration required.
