One of the Sunshine City’s most important calling cards is its pristine environment and world renowned weather. We have the sea, the sand, and… the straws that wind up in them.
You probably expected that to say the sun, but the thousands of locals and tourists visiting St. Pete’s waterfront museums, attractions, and restaurants each year for our natural gifts are in danger of dwindling if we don’t tackle one of the biggest environmental hazards facing coastal communities like ours today: single use plastics.
Together, we can help stem the tides that are washing up more and more plastic straws upon our shores.
Through community leadership by local government officials like City Council Member Gina Driscoll, the support of conscious businesses like Bank OZK, and the help of consumers like you, it can be done.
After all, St. Pete didn’t become the first “Green City” in Florida without reason. We made the commitment to completely transition to clean and renewable energy because our city is innovative, forward thinking, and understands the impact of the environment on our future.
STRAWS SUCK!
The Facts
According to the National Park Service, Americans use 500 million plastic straws each day, which means that you’ll likely use over 35,000 of these little suckers in your lifetime. In fact, it’s their small size that makes them unrecyclable. The best case scenario is ending up in a landfill, where they take their slow, sweet time decomposing, which is sometimes centuries.
Worst case? Almost a third of all plastics produced escape collections systems and wind up in our oceans where they can be swallowed by our marine life and wind up in their stomachs or, as the world witnessed, their nose.
NO STRAWS ST. PETE!
Thankfully, there’s a few simple steps we can all take to reduce the city’s carbon footprint and preserve our beautiful beaches and waters:
What can YOU do as a consumer?
Pledge not to use straws. Sign the Change.org petition here. Break the bad habit and purposefully ask for your drink without the straw. You don’t need it and won’t miss it, we promise.
Consider a reusable straw made of stainless steel, bamboo or glass to take with you everywhere. Hey, it’s a conversation starter.
Talk about it. You might have to tell somebody they suck, but eventually they’ll thank you.
Benefits
- Reduce your carbon footprint
- Feel good about yourself
- Guaranteed to help you stop sucking, less wrinkles
What can YOU do as a restaurant?
Provide straws only when requested by a customer. They won’t leave a terrible Yelp review over that missing straw, they probably won’t even notice.
Provide either compostable or reusable straws when they ask for one. With all that money you’ll be saving from using less straws, why not?
Get rid of straws completely. Quitting cold turkey isn’t for everybody, but your brand is bold and always ahead of the pack.
Benefits
- Reduce your carbon footprint
- Draw in new customers who care about the cause
- Save money on costs
- Reinforce positive brand values with your loyal customers
- Preserve the future of your business
- We’ll list you on this site (thumbs up)
Restaurant/Business Sign Up
Become one of the many proud St. Pete businesses that support the No Straws St. Pete movement!
These local establishments are already making an impact
Kahwa Coffee (All Locations) ・ 2nd & Second ・ Cassis ・ Wooden Rooster ・ The Mill Restaurant ・ Intermezzo Coffee & Cocktails ・ Il Ritorno ・ Station House ・ Cordova Inn ・ Barefoot Beach Club ・ Hotel Cabana ・ Ichicoro Ane ・ Tryst ・ Banyan Cafe ・ Three Birds Tavern ・ Pom Poms Teahouse & Sandwicheria ・ The Avenue ・ Park & Rec ・ King’s Street Food ・ Sea Salt ・ Oyster Bar ・ (swah-rey) ・ Fresco’s Waterfront Bistro ・ The Cider Press Cafe ・ MEZE 119 ・ Snuppets ・ Grassroots Kava House ・ Jacks London Grill ・ Bandit Coffee Co. ・ 2Birds Events ・ Café Ten-O-One ・ Rococco Steak ・ Ceviche ・ The Burg Bar & Grill ・ Rollin’ Oats ・ Vanchetta Food Truck ・ Callaloo ・ Paul’s Landing ・ Black Crow Coffee Co. ・ Caddy’s on the Beach ・ Numex Chile ・ Ka`Tiki ・ BellaBrava ・ Stillwaters Tavern ・ St. Pete Run Fest ・ Parkshore Grill ・ 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House ・ The Hangar ・ Annex 400 Beach ・ Cafe Gala ・ Craft Kafe ・ Hotel Indigo ・ Bar@548 ・ Leafy Greens Cafe ・ St. Petersburg Yacht Club ・ Old Earth Vegetables ・ Ciccio Cali (All Locations) ・ Fresh Kitchen (All Locations) ・ Better Byrd ・ Reading Room St. Pete ・ Latin Lunch Box ・ Category 36 Taphouse ・ Crabby Bill’s St. Pete Beach ・ The Blue Goose ・ The Wheelhouse ・ The Galley: a St. Pete Tavern ・ Alsace French Bistro ・ Asie Pan-Asian ・ Nouvelle ・ Old Southeast Market ・ Love Food Central ・ Casita Taqueria (2 Locations) ・ Treasure Island Cigar Lounge ・ Hawthorne Bottle Shop ・ LUNA at Hilton St Petersburg Carillon Park ・ Isabelle’s at The Historic Peninsula Inn ・ Fishtales Seafood and Steakhouse ・ Paradise Grille ・ See Through Adventures ・ O’Maddy’s Bar & Grille ・ The Melting Pot ・ Gator’s Cafe・ FarmTable Cucina ・ The Getaway ・ TeBella Tea Company ・ Pizza@ Tyrone Square ・ The Mandarin Hide ・ Trophy Fish ・ Blake’s Crab Cakes ・ The Canopy ・ Birch & Vine ・ Mad Hatters Tea Bar ・ Punky’s Bar & Grill ・ Florida Orange Groves Winery ・ Gator’s Cafe & Saloon ・ The Pesky Pelican Brew Pub ・ Hooters St. Pete (All Locations) ・ Lucky’s Market St. Pete ・ Joey Brooklyn’s ・ Red Mesa Cantina ・ Stella’s Cafe ・ Harold Seltzer’s Steakhouse ・ Holiday Inn St. Petersburg N – Clearwater ・ Copper Shaker ・ The Estate St. Pete ・ Central Melt ・The Refillery St. Pete ・Sunshine Kitty Catfe
“With 44 branches and growing, the sustainability of Florida’s small businesses is very important to Bank OZK. We are excited to support the local business community and to ensure the viability of Florida’s environment.”
“I could not be more proud of the local business community for taking the lead on this initiative. Given the importance, it was not surprising to hear that it’s a concern on many people’s minds already.”
“This is an opportunity for the business community to take part in educating consumers on the issue. I knew we could tap I Love the Burg’s connections and start saving the planet, one drink at a time, right here in St. Pete. I have hopes this will spread across Florida while leading to a greater discussion about single use plastics, in general.”
