The "Cleaning Up The World" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Enjoying a meal at the French restaurant known as Le Piment on the island of St. Martin.  I have written many times about the island and quite a few of those stories told of having a meal at Le Piment.  It is one of the favorites of my wife and myself for many years.  But, this year there was something very different about the service we received.  

I realize that mixed drinks come with
a straw, but why not use an alternative?

After ordering our meal and drinks we were delivered our drinks without a plastic straw.  I know, you don't usually drink a mixed drink or a beer with a straw, but we usually don't have a mixed drink or beer with our meal.  We love the peach tea that they serve in a can.  And, we like to use a straw.  We asked about the straw and were told they are trying to cut down on the use of plastic straws since they are harmful to the local environment.  So, we just poured our peach tea into a drinking glass and had it that way.  Many local governments are trying to reduce the reliance that people have on plastic supplies in order to clean up the environment.  Others seem to think that something as small as a plastic straw isn't going to help clean up the environment, but it is said that Americans use more than 500 million straws DAILY, which is enough to fill 125 school buses.  

Too many shorelines look like this in the world!

Plastic straws are said to have a 200-year lifespan so you begin to multiply the 500 million a day times all those years and you see why there is so much plastic in our environment.  In the United States, Colorado declared in 2013 that July 11 would be "Straw Free Day."  So who else is trying to help in this effort to reduce the use of plastics?  The Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship line has said bon voyage to plastic straws.  

We need to eliminate items such as this from our environment.

Now, why can't we do that with plastic bags and cups as well as polystyrene foam containers?  Le Piment did tell us they would give us a plastic straw if necessary, but they are hoping most customers will not request one.  But, for some people, they cannot not do with a plastic straw.  Certain diseases make it almost impossible to drink from a glass or bottle without the use of a straw.  Perhaps someone could invent a suitable alternative to help make a plastic-free environment for all of us.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.