INDIANAPOLIS – First, it was plastic bags. Now, the battleground in the war on bad-for-the-environment single-use plastics has shifted to a new front: the straw.
As in, the straw that comes almost automatically with every drive-thru drink purchase. Or restaurant beverage order. Or ballpark soda.
That is a potentially big problem for restaurants, coffee shops, zoos, theme parks and others. And, for many, their solution has been found in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Indiana's second-largest city is home to Aardvark Straws – the nation's only producer of paper straws.
Aardvark's straws use only FDA-compliant and food-grade materials and are marine degradable and compostable. They also are in high demand and short supply.
He's not wrong. In the U.S. alone, consumers use as many as 500 million straws each day. That is more than 1½ for every American on a daily basis. That also is enough plastic straws to fill more than 46,000 school buses in a year or to stretch around the globe more than two times.
While this small, slender tube is just one part of the more than 8 billion tons of plastic trash that flow into the world's oceans every year, it has found itself at the center of a growing tidal wave to leave plastics in the past for the sake of the planet.
Aardvark came onto the scene in 2007 as the antiplastic movement began to emerge. A leading manufacturer of small cylindrical tubing, Indianapolis-based Precision Products Group Inc. was asked to make a more environmentally friendly straw.
What makes their straws so special is kept tightly under wraps – so tight, in fact, that the company has a total closed plant policy to protect the sensitive nature of its product.
Although Aardvark is the only manufacturer of paper straws in the U.S., it does have competition coming from China. The Fort Wayne company's materials are sourced from a sustainably managed forest that is in compliance with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council. Its straws, made of natural cellulose paper, are also completely compostable and biodegradable.
Up until the 1960s, the paper straw was the only straw, made popular by soda fountains and pharmacies. Still, it did have its shortcomings, namely, that it would disintegrate in the drinks. So when the plastic straw was introduced, it usurped its degradable companion and by 1970, the last paper straw had been manufactured.
"We knew we couldn't bring back the straw from the '60s, so we completely redeveloped it so it is durable and lasts and doesn't get soggy," Rhodes said. "We use unique materials and, with the way we process it, that makes Aardvark a straw that you can trust."
Numerous businesses – including restaurants, hospitals and other service industries – across the country and around the world rely on Aardvark straws. The company ships hundreds of millions of straws to customers in all 50 states and 34 countries.
With the increased demand, the company encourages interested businesses to plan ahead and factor in lead times of as many as 10 to 12 weeks to get their shipment. The company is adding capacity, Rhodes said, to address the increased demand. Industry experts expect the high rate of growth to continue for at least another year or two.
"The beauty of paper straws is not saying to get rid of every straw you have, but to rethink the choices you are making," said the Indiana Recycling Coalition's executive director, Allyson Mitchell.
At 500 million straws used in the U.S. daily, that equates to more than 180 billion straws a year – most of which can't be recycled. Some end up in the nation's waterways and oceans. No global measure of plastic straw consumption exists, but conservative estimates put it in the hundreds of billions on an annual basis.
They are among the top five plastic debris items in the ocean – along with plastic wrappers, bottles, bottle caps and bags – according to the B.A.N. 2.0 List report by the 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit working to fight the "global health crisis of plastic pollution."
"So much of why we have so much waste in the world and all the plastic is the disconnect between this tiniest of decisions and what the impact is," she continued. "Well that's where the impact comes in."
Billy Hannan, general manager at Broad Ripple Brewpub in Indianapolis, had been considering a switch from plastic to paper straws since early last year and decided to take the plunge in February. He hasn't looked back and has only received positive comments and support: His Facebook post announcing the change received nearly 750 likes, 85 comments and 40 shares.
Although the paper straws do cost more than their plastic counterparts — about a cent more per straw — Hannan said expense is not a consideration for him with the cost of what's at stake for the oceans and wildlife.
"Paper straws are the way it's going now, and this is what people will want and what people will expect," he said. "I think people will be shocked after a while if they go into a restaurant and see plastic straws."
Seattle is the latest and first large city to implement a ban on plastic straws and utensils, which takes effect July 1. It follows Malibu, California, which implemented its plastic straw ban on June 1. And several other cities are setting their sights on such bans, including New York City; Delray Beach, Florida; and the entire state of California.
"The state pre-empts us on issues like this," he told IndyStar. "I believe in all my heart that, as we've seen (Indianapolis) sliding down the population rank, this is related to (the city) essentially being kept in the dark ages by the legislature."
The pre-emption Adamson is referring to is what is known as the plastic bag ban. In 2016, Indiana lawmakers passed a law that made it illegal for local governments to ban or tax the use of plastic bags, as Bloomington had been considering.
The plastics industry has opposed bans at every turn, and manufacturers have persuaded lawmakers in other states, including Florida, Wisconsin, Arizona and Missouri, to also pass legislation outlawing bag bans.
The law's author, state Rep. Ron Bacon, said he was not against the limitation of single-use plastics, but against the inconsistent and piecemeal implementation of such a law across the state.
"So if people have a big problem with it," Bacon continued, "then people need to bring it to their legislators to get the conversation started here in the state."
State Rep. Martin Carbaugh, R-Fort Wayne, who represents the district Aardvark straws is located in, voted in favor of Bacon's law. He declined an interview and did not comment if he would support a ban on plastic straws in Indiana.
State Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, knows these issues are on the forefront of his constituents' minds. But absent action by the government, he said he is happy to see consumers and local business – such as Aardvark and the restaurants using their paper straws – stepping up.