Starbucks employee petitions for company to stop using plastic straws

In honor of Earth Day, a Starbucks employee is asking the company to stop using plastic straws, which she says negatively affect marine life. Her Care2 petition, available at www.care2.com/go/z/StarStraws, has gathered more than 63,000 signatures as of April 23, 2018.

Scientists estimate that by the year 2050, the world's oceans will be home to more plastic than fish. Starbucks employee Stephanie Muttillo, a New Jersey resident, says her employer has a duty to help.

“I would like to see Starbucks, the company I work for, help lead the way to shrink our footprint on the planet,” Muttillo told Care2. “There are many alternatives to plastic straws. Many companies have started using compostable straws or paper straws.”

She says plastic straws are detrimental to wildlife and that the photo on her Care2 petition is from a “painful-to-watch” video of researchers in Costa Rica struggling to remove an obstruction from the nasal passage of a sea turtle. They soon realize it’s a cocktail straw.

“I believe we can help convince the world's largest coffee shop chain to make the switch,” Muttillo told Care2. “If Starbucks sees this Care2 petition filled with thousands of signatures from people who care about our environment, I am positive that this environmentally responsible corporation will make a change for a healthier planet.”

The petition is part of a broader push by Care2 for companies to switch to environmentally friendly practices to protect the environment in light of Earth Day; a separate petition is calling on McDonald’s to start selling the Impossible Burger, a 100 percent vegetarian burger that mimics real meat and uses 95 percent less land and 74 percent less water than a beef burger. Another petition is asking Costco to install electric vehicle charging stations.