{"id":19709,"date":"2018-11-26T14:22:52","date_gmt":"2018-11-26T22:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/?p=19709"},"modified":"2018-12-05T10:20:58","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T18:20:58","slug":"the-last-plastic-straw-success-with-stainless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freshcup.com\/the-last-plastic-straw-success-with-stainless\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Plastic Straw: Success with Stainless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo source: Ghostlight Coffee<\/em><\/p>\n

[S]ometimes, a good idea simply sells itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put a container of stainless steel straws for sale for $2 each by our cash register with a sign that said, \u2018It\u2019s Up to You,\u2019\u201d says Shane Anderson, owner of Ghostlight Coffee in Dayton, Ohio. \u201cThat\u2019s the tagline that we\u2019ve been using, because we can offer these things, but it\u2019s up to the customer to make the choice to use them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really didn\u2019t do any other promotion than that, and they have sold great,\u201d he continues. \u201cImmediately people were showing interest. Our first order this summer sold out in just a matter of days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson has been sourcing the metal straws from Amazon and figures he has invested about $1 to $1.50 in each one. Selling the straws isn\u2019t about making a profit, he explains. It\u2019s about giving customers the opportunity to choose something reusable.<\/p>\n

As caf\u00e9s across the country join the movement to do away with single-use straws, stainless steel offers an attractive, multiple-use alternative.<\/p>\n

In Amarillo, Texas, Palace Coffee Company began selling stainless steel straws for $2.50 each at its four citywide locations earlier this summer.<\/p>\n

The response has been \u201cvery positive,\u201d says Sam Gum, the caf\u00e9\u2019s director of retail. \u201cRecently I overhead a husband tell his wife when she was preparing to purchase one: \u2018You already have three of those. Do you really need another?\u2019 So they\u2019ve already developed a bit of a fan base. \u2026 But the real goal is to encourage customers to purchase one and bring it back in every time they come.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Amarillo, where citywide recycling is not currently available, Gum says there\u2019s still a bit of an education component involved in their marketing of the straws.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want people to realize that while they are cool, we\u2019re not presenting them as just another cool piece of merchandise to buy,\u201d she says. \u201cThe idea is to keep it in your car and use it daily as a way to eliminate waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driven largely by the green thinking of their baristas\u2014especially Adriana Rella, lead barista at its Summit location\u2014Palace has begun to adopt multiple, simple steps to reduce waste in the way they serve their customers. This includes offering discounts for reusable cups and making laminated paper squares (as a sort of DIY dry-erase board) to write orders on, in place of single-use Post-it Notes.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Palace Coffee sells branded reusable vessels. Photo source: Palace Coffee<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer waste we produce as a society,\u201d says Rella. \u201cIt seems silly that we have so much unnecessary garbage when it doesn\u2019t take much to limit it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those wondering about the ease of cleaning and maintaining the stainless steel straws, Rella has the answer: pipe cleaners. While commercial straw cleaners are available, Palace Coffee encourages customers to try pipe cleaners since they\u2019re just as effective, cheaper, and can be rinsed and used multiple times.<\/p>\n

At Ghostlight, the success of the stainless straw sales has helped illustrate that customers want to make good choices. Anderson feels it\u2019s his mission, as a shop owner, to help make it possible for them to do so.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s recently partnered with Dayton-based GoZERO composting services and GreenSpeed Products to ramp up the caf\u00e9\u2019s composting capabilities and is well on the way to becoming a no-waste coffee shop by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years of doing business, you find yourself watching all these bags and bags of lids and cups going out the door every day, essentially to a landfill. And you just know it\u2019s not good,\u201d he says. \u201cSo you start looking for other options that make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Sustainable to-go cups ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Helping to eliminate waste with reusable stainless-steel straws<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1123,"featured_media":19713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}},"beyondwords_generate_audio":"","beyondwords_project_id":"","beyondwords_content_id":"","beyondwords_player_style":"","beyondwords_language_id":"","beyondwords_title_voice_id":"","beyondwords_body_voice_id":"","beyondwords_summary_voice_id":"","beyondwords_error_message":"","beyondwords_disabled":"","beyondwords_podcast_id":"","beyondwords_hash":"","publish_post_to_speechkit":"","speechkit_hash":"","speechkit_generate_audio":"","speechkit_project_id":"","speechkit_podcast_id":"","speechkit_error_message":"","speechkit_disabled":"","speechkit_access_key":"","speechkit_error":"","speechkit_info":"","speechkit_response":"","speechkit_retries":"","speechkit_updated_at":"","_speechkit_link":"","_speechkit_text":""},"categories":[25,24],"tags":[2774,8960,113],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Last Plastic Straw: Success with Stainless - 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