Danielle Beeksma hopes to reach the last straw soon.
The restaurant manager at Cimo Mediterranean Grill on Victoria St. is an early adopter of a growing trend of phasing out plastic straws from regular use in restaurants. The idea fits well with the values of the restaurant, which has for years branded itself as a green eatery.
Cimo has employed biodegradable take-out containers, has donated kitchen compost to community gardens, and wherever possible has attempted to buy ingredients from local producers. But the issue of reducing plastic waste had a personal resonance for Beeksma as well.
"I did my undergraduate studies at UNBC in forest ecology and resource management. I minored in conservation and biology. So all things conservation and environment are near and dear to my heart," she said.
The restaurant initially began introducing a straw that was commercially compostable, in hopes of reducing plastic waste. But because Prince George lacks a commercial composter capable of accepting these straws, she found they had to be transported to Vancouver, which submerged most of the green benefits.
""The trade-off is just not there. You're offsetting your plastic use with fossil fuels to get it down to Vancouver," she said.
Instead, she has adopted an approach that a growing number of restaurants are signing onto: not offering straws. Customers are still able to request straws if they prefer, which Beeksma said would soon be made of a compostable paper material, but will not be offered the straws automatically.
It's a policy that has become common in many restaurants locally and throughout B.C. Restaurant chains such as Moxie's and White Spot have also begun offering straws on a by-request basis only. White Spot CEO Warren Erhart recently told the Vancouver Sun the move has saved the company from purchasing between three and four million straws in the past year.
Even McDonald's in Britain decided last month to phase-out plastic straws in favour of a compostable paper alternative. The move came days after a report from the UK government that predicted the amount of non-biodegradable plastic waste in the world's oceans would triple within a decade.
The straw has become a recent villain of the environmental movement. Conservationists have reported it is among the most common plastic item volunteers remove from beaches.
At Cimo, the move has proved popular with patrons.
"Some months about ago I did a little poll to see if people would support us to phase out the straw. It was overwhelmingly positive," Beeksma said.
"It's very much in social media right now so it's in the public eye. It's a great time for us to take advantage of that momentum and the buy-in that the community already has,"
The restaurant balances some of the costs of these compostable straws, as well as biodegradable take-out containers and birch wood take-out cutlery, with a small surcharge on to-go orders. Beeksma estimated this cost to be around $0.35 per take-out order.
The move is being explored by other restaurants in Prince George. Reached by phone, Rick Cyre, owner-operator at the White Goose restaurant, said a straw phase-out it is a policy that has its advantages.
"It will save a lot of money if people are not asking for straws," he said.
