200,000 signatures reached
To: Odeon, Cineworld and Vue cinemas.
Make plastic drink straws obsolete in cinemas
Stop using and manufacturing plastic drinking straws and replace them with biodegradable (recycled) paper ones.
Why is this important?
UK cinemas are responsible for hundreds of thousands of plastic straws being thrown away every week. They make a huge amount of profit on selling fizzy drinks and last year there were 170 million tickets sold to cinemas in the UK. If all those drinks were served with paper straws it'd make a massive difference to the plastic ending up in our seas.*
'The marine Conservation society estimates the UK uses up to 8.5 billion plastic straws every year which are among the top 10 items found in beach clean ups'. Plastic straws should be considered a serious problem to marine species survival: I've done recent beach clear-ups myself and can testify they are a common, harmful type of sea pollution.
Plastic straws can travel long distances throughout the world's oceans, getting ingested by marine animals- taking up vital space in their stomachs that takes up increasing space for digesting food to eventually starve and kill them. Straws get tangled in seaweed beds in coastal waters where they will continue to accumulate like an off-shore rubbish dump if the supply isn't stopped for good.
The EU is considering banning them this year, and asking Environment Minister, Michael Gove to align with EU member states in this- but Gove has been cautious and not clearly affirmed this- yet.
A large lobby and petition to ban plastic straw sale and manufacture in the UK could decide the matter this year, to see a change in UK law to make them obsolete.
* We recommend that cinemas keep a small number of plastic straws behind the counter for customers with medical conditions or disabilities who require one.
'The marine Conservation society estimates the UK uses up to 8.5 billion plastic straws every year which are among the top 10 items found in beach clean ups'. Plastic straws should be considered a serious problem to marine species survival: I've done recent beach clear-ups myself and can testify they are a common, harmful type of sea pollution.
Plastic straws can travel long distances throughout the world's oceans, getting ingested by marine animals- taking up vital space in their stomachs that takes up increasing space for digesting food to eventually starve and kill them. Straws get tangled in seaweed beds in coastal waters where they will continue to accumulate like an off-shore rubbish dump if the supply isn't stopped for good.
The EU is considering banning them this year, and asking Environment Minister, Michael Gove to align with EU member states in this- but Gove has been cautious and not clearly affirmed this- yet.
A large lobby and petition to ban plastic straw sale and manufacture in the UK could decide the matter this year, to see a change in UK law to make them obsolete.
* We recommend that cinemas keep a small number of plastic straws behind the counter for customers with medical conditions or disabilities who require one.
