Starbucks is joining the growing number of restaurants, cafes and coffee places around the world that have stopped giving you a plastic straw with your drink.
Starbucks Coffee said Monday that it will eliminate single-use plastic straws in all of its operations globally by 2020, a high-profile response to the no-plastic-straw movement among environmentalists.
Instead, Starbucks will offer two alternatives. One is a recyclable plastic lid, akin to a grown-up sippy cup, that Starbucks has already begun using with come of its drinks. Starbucks says the lid is currently available at 8,000 locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Starbucks is also developing what it calls “an alternative-material straw,” which in most cases means paper.
“For our partners and customers, this is a significant milestone to achieve our global aspiration of sustainable coffee, served to our customers in more sustainable ways,” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said in a news release.