A With their pipes and lids to avoid spills, coffee cups have long been the alternative for s. Now Starbucks is going all in on the concept by swearing to get rid of straws by 2020—and it’s all for a very good reason. This move is an answer to our own partners about what we can do to reduce the need for straws. Not using a straw is the best thing we can do for the environment. In place of plastic straws, Starbucks plans to offer recyclable lids for all iced drinks and paper straws for coffee. The transition is already taking place in Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle, where a ban on plastic straws went into place on July 1. By rolling this out in all 28,000 of their stores by 2020, the company says they are annually removing more than one billion straws from going into circulation—and potentially the ocean. Starbucks’ decision to gradually stop using single-use plastic straws is a shining example of the important role that companies can play in stopping the tide of ocean plastic. With eight million metric tons of plastic entering the ocean every year, we cannot afford to let industry sit on the sidelines. Marine life has a 50% death rate when it swallows plastic—yet researchers believe there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by the year 2050 if this rate of litter continues. That means there can be an immediate positive impact if we swap plastic straws for environmentally friendly alternatives. The smart design on the cup for cold drinks comes from Starbucks’ in-house team of designers and has been in development for two years. However, the announcement comes as outcry ( 倒彩 ) increases over the ers that plastic straws can cause to marine life. Other companies the eco-friendly swap also announced plans last month to test alternatives to plastic straws.