Date
June 30, 2022
Credits
Green Team, Kathy Ellis
Date
June 30, 2022
Credits
Green Team, Kathy Ellis
Creation Justice Ministry is an active interfaith group which offers timely discussion. As we enter a season predicted to have intense storms, Debra Rienstra, author of REFUGIA FAITH, along with an ecologist, will lead an exploration of the church as refuge, drawing connections between the refuge of the spirit and the refuge of God’s creation. https://bit.ly/3OAA6A6
FOR MORE FROM YOUR DIOCESAN CREATION CARE TASK FORCE: https://bit.ly/3a6w17K
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Committee contact: Marionette Jones, marionettepjones@gmail.com
FCCG Sustainability Committee, sustainablewarrenton@gmail.com
Club contact: Kevin O'Neill, kevintoneill@yahoo.com
Many Warrenton restaurant owners have taken an eco-friendly step this spring. As they continue to search for sustainable food packaging, they have joined a
”Straws on Request” campaign. Single-use straws are no longer automatically being given to seated customers at participating restaurants. This is not a ban on straws; instead, straws are a choice. Participants’ waitstaff will provide straws whenever they are wanted.
Providing a choice may align with some personal preferences. A recent study indicates that many people don't select straws when not automatically placed in their drinks. Almost a 50% reduction in the use of straws was observed.
Carter Nevill, the mayor of Warrenton, has been an early supporter of the effort. Besides benefiting the environment, Mayor Nevill notes that “reducing waste that goes to the landfill reduces costs to taxpayers. While straws might be only a small contributor to the global impact caused by landfill waste, they are ubiquitous in restaurants and thus an easy way to make a positive change.”
Most recycling facilities do not accept plastic straws. Small size, light weight quality, and flexibility make straws susceptible to slipping off conveyor belts during the sorting process. They sometimes clog machinery when they fall or contaminate other previously sorted plastics, so that the resulting mixtures are no longer usable and thus wasted.
Plastic straws do not decompose in the landfill. They leach toxic pollutants like phthalates and bisphenol A into our soil and waterways.
“When plastic straws are not disposed of responsibly, they end up in the natural environment where they can cause significant harm to wildlife such as birds, fish, turtles, and seals. The planet's well-being depends on our raised awareness that helps us become more intentional consumers and caretakers,” says Marionette Jones who is leading this project for the Sustainability Committee of the Fauquier Climate Change Group.
In the past, paper straws were problematic, as many would dissolve in a drink before it was finished. Today, paper and other plant-based straws are more durable. However, many of these straws have been found to contain a number of different PFAs, “forever chemicals” that break down slowly over time and are possible human carcinogens. PFAs may be added as a coating to these straws to make their surface repel water. Moreover, since PFAs break down slowly, paper and plant-based straws containing PFAs are not biodegradable. All of this may mean that the best straw may be no straw at all.
Americans use and dispose of up to 500 million single-use straws and stirrers every day. For Warrenton, that would translate into 12,000 straws a day, or more than 4 million straws a year. “People who want to reduce their use of an item that quickly ends up as trash want a way to opt out of straws,” says Kevin O'Neill, the director of the club. “Once we get a good participation rate in our town, we plan to make this campaign county-wide,” says O'Neill.
What can be done to support the campaign? People can look for the green sticker showing the restaurant is a participant in the “Straws on Request” campaign and check Fauquier Climate Change Group's Facebook page for the growing list of restaurants that have made the pledge. When you dine at one of these sit-down restaurants, thank the waitstaff for participating.
Does one or more of your favorite restaurants still need to sign the “Straws on Request” pledge? Consider asking them to sign it or contact sustainablewarrenton@gmail.com for a free set of leave-behind “Straws on Request” cards for this purpose.
Inaugural list of participating Warrenton restaurants (in alphabetical order):
Black Bear Bistro
Café Torino
Denim and Pearls
El Agave
El Jaripeo
Faang Thai Restaurant & Bar
Frost Diner
Great Harvest Bread Company
Red Truck Bakery – Warrenton
Moe's Southwest Grill
Molly's Irish Pub
Natural Marketplace
O'Brien's Irish Pub
Sunny Hills American Grill
Taj Palace Indian Cuisine
Third & Main Gourmet to Go
73 Culpeper St, Warrenton, VA 20186
(540) 347-4342
