Starbucks will eliminate plastic straws from its stores globally by 2020, in a nod to the growing push for businesses to be more environmentally friendly.
到2020年,星巴克将在全球门店内不再使用塑料吸管,旨在促进环保事业。
The Seattle-based company said on Monday it will instead use straws made from other materials, and lids designed not to need straws.
周一,星巴克的西雅图总部表示,未来将使用非塑料吸管,杯盖也将会设计成无需使用吸管。
McDonald's also recently said it would switch to paper straws in the UK and Ireland by next year, and test alternatives to plastic straws in some US locations. In February, Dunkin' Donuts said that it would eliminate polystyrene foam cups from its stores by 2020.
麦当劳也在近日表示将于明年把英国和爱尔兰的门店所使用的吸管全部换成纸质,美国的部分门店也将测试使用塑料替代物的效果。二月,唐恩都乐咖啡文化馆说,到2020年,该品牌将取消所有门店的泡沫橡胶杯。
Environmental activists have been pressuring businesses to ditch plastic straws because they can end up in the ocean and hurt marine life. The push gained traction after a viral video in 2015 showed rescuers removing a straw from a sea turtle's nose in graphic detail.
环保促进者一直在给各行业施压要求取缔塑料吸管,因为塑料最终会被排入海里,威胁海洋生物的生命。2015年,救援者从海龟鼻子取出塑料吸管的鲜活视频在网上疯传,此后取缔塑料吸管的运动得到巨大支持。
Local governments have also been looking at the issue. Last week, Seattle’s ban on single-use plastic straws and utensils in food service outlets took effect, and Starbucks says it already offers alternative straws there. Similar proposals are being considered elsewhere, including New York and San Francisco.
当地政府也在持续关注此事。去年,西雅图严令禁止食品业使用一次性塑料吸管和餐具,这项禁令也开始生效。星巴克已经开始提供可替代材料制成的吸管。纽约、旧金山等地也开始酝酿类似法令。
While straws have become a high-profile issue, they make up only about 4% of the plastic trash by number of pieces, and far less by weight. Straws add up to only about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9m tons of plastic waste that hits waters each year.
吸管事件近期引起较多关注,但是其实吸管所用的塑料从数量上来讲只占塑料垃圾的4%,从重量来讲远低于4%。每年,塑料吸管总量达2000吨,而污染海洋的塑料垃圾多达9百万吨。
(翻译:阿忙)