More and more famous hotel chains ban the use of plastic straws and sticks in their properties worldwide. This time such famous companies as Hyatt and MGM have announced that they will stop providing their guests with plastic straws and drink picks. They will be still available upon request or eco-friendly alternatives will be suggested to guests.
Hyatt stops using plastic straws after September 1, 2018. This step is a part of the global initiative of the famous hotelier and its attempts to reduce waste and consumption of various resources. In line with the 2020 Environmental Sustainability Vision, the company has changed its purchasing criteria in accordance with sustainability guidelines and made various changes in order to reduce its imprint to the environment. The hotelier has also reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% since 2006. Fitness centers of Hyatt hotels also started offering recycled earbuds instead of single-use. Last year, Hyatt hotels in North America used 65,000 pairs of recycled earbuds.
The hotelier also collaborates with Clean the World, a non-profit organization that accepts used shampoo and soap, recycles these products, and then gives them away to people in need. Over the last nine years, Hyatt hotels donated more than 475,000 pounds of soup and other toiletries.
MGM Resorts International has made a similar initiative. The largest multi-concept restaurant operator in the world will provide plastic straws only upon request. First US properties of the company will participate, and global properties will join this initiative at a later date. This campaign will help to remove nearly 100 million straws a year from landfills.
Straws are one of the most frequently littered items in the US. They are also an 11th most found item in the plastic trash that flows in the ocean. Currently, the oceans are polluted by roughly eight million metric tons of plastic. Moreover, it takes approximately 200 years for plastic straws to break down, so straws are a tough pollutant. Both stir straws and drinking straws were removed not only from hotels but also from casinos of the famous resort group. Buffets, bars, lounges, and restaurants may still have them but will give them only upon a special request. According to MGM, the response from customers was positive in pilot properties, so they quickly decided to spread the initiative to all hotels across the US and trained hotel staff to stop serving single-use plastic straws.