A reader used the “Submit a pic” form on this site and submitted this photo:
Here’s what she says:
“I’m in Santa Cruz. They’ve switched to these straws only and I’m being told this is only the start. Whether it’s just in California or nationwide I’m not sure, but seriously, these are the worst straws ever.“
And she also wrote:
“These are paper straws and I’ve been given them both the Watsonville Ca store and the Santa Cruz Ca store. I can still get regular straws in neighboring Santa Clara county but I’m being told by baristas there that they are expecting the paper straws soon.”
What do you think of this? Would you start bringing your own straw to Starbucks? You can buy plastic, reusable straws which are theoretically better for the environment (if you really use them).
I have no idea if this is a small test, or possibly is required by some local or state health code? This could be a very isolated thing. Even if this is a very local phenomena, it wouldn’t surprise me to see this in other places in the future. Seattle will ban plastic straws from eateries in July 2018. The straw above looks like the same kind of paper straw now offered at the Disney’s Animal Kingdom Starbucks location (a licensed Starbucks store). There is also a Change.Org petition asking that Starbucks only offer paper straws.
It’s your turn to weigh in. Is this what you hope to see at Starbucks in the future – paper straws?
Update on June 28, 2018:
32 Comments
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I only use my personal cup at Starbucks, so I will always have a hard plastic straw. But I think this is a terrible idea. I had a frozen drink from a restaurant not too long ago and I thought it was interesting to have a paper straw. About 10 minutes later the straw was soggy and flopping all over the place. I think they are totally useless!
They should at least make them out of edible material then if they are falling apart anyway!!
YES! Free cookie straws with every drink purchase!!
Green paper straws just look icky. It makes me wonder about green dye and does it transfer? Does one ingest any dye? Does it have a taste? I am not especially opposed to paper straws but bright green paper does not look like something I would want in my drink.
Taco Time NW outlets here in Western Washington have sturdy compostible straws. Why couldn’t Starbucks go that route?
Not buying any Stsrbucks if they serve me a paper straw they do not last and the dye is in your drink it leaches out
paper straws are better for the environment, but they’re not a good “mouth feel” experience. i’ve only had experience with them with water, but i can’t imagine how they’d work with thicker drinks, especially frappuccinos! just because Sbux will have no choice in Seattle doesn’t mean all their stores worldwide need them!
I drink my hot drinks with a straw. This would be awful! And the mouth feel is yuk. It’s hard to get any suction with a paper straw to get that last bit of chocolate on the bottom. I found a supplier for the long venti size straws. Guess I’ll be bringing that as well.
I like using my hard straws but I’m usually in travel status for work so I can’t always bring my own tumbler. Airports won’t take them.
Good. Well they need to get better quality ones but – GOOD. 500 MILLION STRAWS are thrown out PER DAY in the U.S ALONE. And they are NOT “recyclable” or biodegradable ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. We are fucked with the number of straws piling up per DAY. So for all the people whining that their shitty poison now comes with a paper straw —- please —- go do some research. Good on ya Starbucks, you suck a little less now.
Not a good idea. Are they hoping to better contribute to saving the planet? Recycling? If an individual chooses to recycle (certainly offered at Starbuck stores), then the straws will be tossed into the recycle bin along with the cup…..
As long as I brought up recycling, how about Starbucks bring back some of their Sandwiches that have been eliminated in my area (although various baristas have told me they were the most popular of the food items). I believe they were removed to make room for more of the Protein Bowls which are ridiculously expensive. The plastic container that is used must be expensive …. and of course, needs to be recycled. Introduce more plastic bowls, but eliminate a straw?
Yes eliminate a straw especially plastic ones. They do nothing but harm this environment and the creatures residing in our oceans. Plastic straws are not biodegradable which is a huge no no also tip not everything that is put into a recycling bin is recycled 🙂
Absolutely, we need to do this for our environment. Our oceans are gasping for air and we are killing wildlife with the plastic we consume every day. I agree, paper straws are pretty gross! But we should either deal with it, or bring our own straw (and once everyone is on board with this change, I’m sure better paper straws will be developed – Blaze pizza in my area has all eco-conscious utensils, etc., and their straws are pretty hardy!). I have glass straws and metal straws, all bought on amazon. I carry the metal straws in my purse and use them all the time. I have several, so when one is dirty, I have it ready to wash and have others ready to use. It’s not that hard, and shouldn’t we put in a little effort to make a better environment for our kids and grandkids?! I applaud Starbuck’s for making this change.
What happened to personal responsibility? I know that trash belongs in trash receptacles but it seems that today’s society has to be treated like they are brainless! I do not want paper straws but if the children in society want them then offer them as a choice. Perhaps you can offer bibs and sippy cups as well! I am tired of being treated like a mindless idiot because of some! Stop lowering your standards to conform to some!
https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/straws-why-they-seriously-suck/
I agree Minnie. We each need to take personal responsibility for our person, our children and the environment we live in. Metal straws, for me, are not user friendly against my teeth. The glass, too heavy. Neither the metal or glass straws are pleasant drinking from.
As to Starbucks recyclable straws, I trust they have them in a wider circumference for Frapps. Also, trusting these new recyclable straws will not breakdown quickly, as sometimes I get a drink to sip over a few hours. I hope this stops at the straws, as I remember when “paper” cups were used for cold drinks (70’s) and they just fell apart, within an hour, as Dutch Bros ones do. N.G.
Back to where I started, each of us need to step up and care about the land they live in and do their best to improve and keep it nice. This needs to be taught to our children as well. Many have left behind what was considered, “common sense,” common courtesy,” and “common decency.” As we know today, there is nothing common about sense, courtesy and decency!
The Starbucks are Disney Animal Kingdom park uses these paper straws. In fact, if they see you walk into the park with a plastic straw anywhere in the park they will confiscate it and trade you for one of these paper ones. They definitely get soggy over time, but it’s not the end of the world as they stay together long enough to drink even a ventilator sized drink. It’s bad news for those of us that tend to chew on straws though.
Minnie I am with you. The powers that be around us, are trying to and have successfully with some, dumbed down people’s minds, emotions (there is emotional intelligence), basically everything that one will allow to be dumbed down, can be dumbed down! In a few cities in my state, no store can provide a paper bag without the customer paying for it. Even if the store wants to just provide paper bags for customers (Trader Joes- yeh), they can’t do it because of the city mandate. Back to Starbucks’ paper straws. For all the reasons listed in the previous posts, NO I don’t want paper straws cause they won’t work. On another note, I know that Howard Schultz is no longer the CEO of Starbucks since April 2017. He was from 2008 up until this past April. Howard was Starbucks as we knew it. Having been a frequent flyer of Starbucks since 2002, these past few months I’ve noticed some small as well as significant, not so good, changes in the stores. SAD
https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/straws-why-they-seriously-suck/
I can’t believe how inconsiderate many of the commenters are. Plastic straws are used for on average 15 minutes to be disposed of, taking thousands of years to degrade, typically in our oceans releasing numerous toxins into the environment. 15 million are used in the US and UK alone EVERY DAY.
Disposable plastic straws are not intended to be used with hot coffees, the heat releases more plastic into your body.
If you can’t finish your drink in 15 minutes, order a smaller size. And mouth feel? Freaking chill. You want to explain away to the generation you destroyed the environment for MOUTH FEEL? Take a long hard at yourselves. I reuse a stainless steel straw to reduce my environmental impact. Stop being whiny children
Damien, how are the commenters here being inconsiderate? Please know, that everyone has different drinking habits, as to how long it takes from a drink to be consumed. Most people I know and have seen in Starbucks, don’t finish a drink in 15 minutes. If you do, that is fine. It isn’t being inconsiderate. Your post is very demanding and harsh. Step outside of your personal consumption habits and consider(ate) the discussion here is of one’s own thoughts and feelings regarding the components straws are made of and opinions surrounding. There is no reason to direct tell people what to do and name call. I think you have the ability to not name call or slam people. 🙂
Complete and utter garbage. Having used the straws. Bad mouth feel, get soggy, just inferior in every way. And add to that the hystrionic nonsense from the ‘oh the world is going to end’ crowd and it’s just a toxic mix.
What Chris Meyers said. Gimme my plastic straw for my cold drinks. I’ll throw them away responsibly and not litter, and be happy to explain to my grandchildren why I “destroyed their world” (doubtful!) for a good mouth feel. Also, is having to use/waste two or three paper straws that don’t work in place of one plastic one that does really saving anything? It’s like my water-saving toilet that I have to flush 2-5 times; doesn’t seem to be saving anything except what I’m trying to flush down. Several places here I read how easy it is to carry a hard plastic or stainless straw in my purse or handbag. Yeah, if I carried a ‘murse’ or ‘manbag,’ it might– but I don’t. What now??? Maybe there’s a straw on my Swiss Army knife…
I totally agree. Do NOT get me started on that “water saving” shower head that grandma has at her house. She likes it because it’s gentle on her skin. I, however, HATE it because I have twice as long to rinse the shampoo out of my hair. It’s either using the same water as I was before OR it’s taking MORE water because I spend more time, I’m not sure which. Either way, it’s not as energy efficient as some people claim.
How did civilization manage with paper straws for centuries before plastic was introduced.? Well it did.
It is pathetic to suggest that good quality paper straws are not suitable. If the paper straw gets soggy then either don’t use them or ask the company to stop buying poor quality imports.
If you can’t cope use a childs beaker.
How did the world make it with out Starbucks! 🙂
Make it without A/C, cell phones, computers…..
This is a no brainer: paper or compostable straws should be mandatory. The food service and fast food industry must get rid of plastic and polystyrene all together. Starbucks, please act in your locations across the world, show the way to your customers with good quality paper or compostable straws.
I know this is late, but I used to work in the Santa Cruz store. The city of Santa Cruz passed an ordinance that all restaurants were required to use compostable paperware. We initially got compostable cups and lids, and then straws. There were definitely issues: the cup quality wasn’t as good, things leaked at the seams, lids fit differently, etc. Plus, if we ran out of cups we couldn’t borrow from other stores, and the cost of paper goods was much higher. However, Starbucks was simply following the laws, nothing more. Over time people seem to have gotten used to it, and locals are familiar with the why, so it was less of an issue. While it might not be what people want, that’s what the ballot box is for. In the end the compostables don’t end up doing much good, though, because people toss them in the trash and in the recycle bin, so most of them end up with the landfill anyway.
Why not simply make straw out of coffee bean skin?
They already perfectioned that process for the k-cups ring…
Regarding our environment, we need to include and understand that volcanic explosions, starting from the beginning of time and continuing on, are far more destructive than mankind’s behavior, affecting our environment. A volcanic explosion sends out pollutants into the air, the ocean and on land. The wind moves volcanic ashes and toxins to far reaching places from each volcanic eruption. Volcano’s are uncontrollable, some explode quite often on a regular basis. I would encourage all that care for the environment, look up the continuous volcanic activity happening all over the world. The volcanic ash, toxic fumes, destructive lava, and heat far exceeds what mankind can do to the environment, including global warming. On the other hand, we do need to do our part (that is different for each person) to keep the area we live in clean and well kept. The USA far exceeds, if not all, most, countries, in protecting the environment with the EPA in place and individual responsibility those have taken to protect the air, earth and water. We need to keep in mind all the components, man made and natural, that make up the environment we have, good and bad.
I do not like at all the paper straws for frappucinos or cold drinks. they break easily . very hard to drink with.
they are not flexible at all.
about time – they are needed to replace plastic straws which harm the environment
I see nothing wrong with paper straws, when I was a little boy that all they used.