Boulder environmentalists set their sights on disposable plastic straws
Suck the Straws Out of Boulder campaign to get boost from singer Jack Johnson
By Alex Burness
Staff Writer
POSTED: 07/04/2017 01:19:54 PM MDT
http://www.dailycamera.com/news/boul...plastic-straws
Between the ages of 5 and 65 — a roughly 22,000-day period — the average American will use 38,000 disposable straws.
At least, that's what the office of Gov. John Hickenlooper decreed in 2013 when he announced July 11 as
Straw Free Day in Colorado.
If the governor's claim sounds dubious, anti-plastic straw advocates have other eye-popping statistics in their arsenal.
"There's enough plastic-straw waste in the U.S. to wrap around the Earth 2.5 times every day," said Graham Hill, a Boulder resident who's on a mission to limit the usage of disposable straws in the city.
Earlier this year, Hill was awarded a $300 micro-grant given out by the city and the group C3 Boulder to support climate-related local initiatives.
Hill's team is now launching a campaign called
Suck the Straws Out of Boulder to educate people on the environmental harm wrought by plastic straws. His nonprofit, Shared Paths Boulder, is working with a diverse roster: University Hill restaurant Taco Junky, the nonprofit Colorado Ocean Coalition and sustainability consultant Project Azul Verde.
"I have always been pestered internally by the sight of straws that are used, that are wasted, that are ridiculous," said Hill, 54. "There could be three straws that a bartender sticks in your glass. We take products like straws for granted."...
...That movement is not unique to Boulder, but the city is a national bastion of straw opposition.
Boulder's EcoCycle is the headquarters for
the Be Straw Free campaign, which is fronted by local teen and prominent anti-straw advocate Milo Cress. His work has included an effort to recruit restaurants into adopting an "offer first" policy on straws, and he's traveled around the country spreading his message.
Hickenlooper's 2013 proclamation made note of the straw resistance Cress has helped foster.
"The young Milo Cress has worked diligently to bring this issue to the attention of Coloradans and promote sustainability among the people of our state," the governor wrote.
Suck the Straws Out of Boulder would like to partner with Cress, Hill said.
In the meantime, they've already secured a big-name backer: singer Jack Johnson plans to plug the effort during his two concerts at Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre in Greenwood Village next week, said Vicki Nichols Goldstein of
the Colorado Ocean Coalition....