Nashville restaurants join anti-plastic movement

A lot of thought goes into the straws that accompany drinks at upscale Midtown restaurant Henley.

Based on your order, you might get a stainless steel straw, custom-cut bamboo or reusable silicone. But you won’t find plastic.

The year-old restaurant in the Kimpton Aertson Hotel shelled out more money upfront to invest in plastic alternatives so it could save money in the long run and help protect the environment. Henley is one of many restaurants in the anti-plastic straw movement sweeping the nation.

“It’s really important for us to be able to not serve something that’s automatically wasted,” said Henley General Manager James Garrido.

Across the U.S., businesses big and small have announced plans to eliminate plastic items such as single-use straws, bags and cocktail stirrers.

Starbucks in July said it would remove plastic straws in all its stores by 2020, eliminating roughly 1 billion plastic straws per year. One day later, American Airlines said it would stop using plastic straws/stirrers and switch to bamboo. Hyatt, Marriott, SeaWorld Entertainment and United Airlines are on board with the movement. Meanwhile, Seattle and several other cities have enacted straw bans or restrictions.  

Supporters of the anti-straw movement say plastic straws often get left out of the recycling process because they are small and lightweight, causing them to wind up in landfills and waterways. EcoCycle says roughly 500 million disposable straws are used by Americans daily, although that figure has been debated.

Critics argue plastic straws are only a drop in the bucket when it comes to litter, and some people with disabilities rely on plastic single-use straws to drink a beverage.

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Still, many restaurateurs in Nashville are taking up the cause.

Garrido said Henley uses reusable leather coasters instead of paper ones, bartenders don’t hand out bar napkins, and the straw alternatives such as bamboo and stainless steel are chosen based on the drink order.

“It’s not just good for the environment,” Garrido explained. “Of course, that’s a priority for us all, but this is just good business. It helps us deliver financially to our ownership; we save money by using reusable products.”

Paper straws typically cost more than plastic straws, but restaurants go through a lot fewer when they hand them out only when a customer asks for one.

“We spend more money buying them upfront, but we’re not wasting them and throwing them around. It’s kind of funny because we see plastic straws as this disposable thing, but it isn’t actually disposable at all,” Garrido said.

At Vanderbilt University, part of its broader sustainability effort included eliminating all plastic straws and plastic bags on campus before the fall semester. At the same time, the school transitioned to compostable coffee cups, lids, flatware and paper straws.

David ter Kuile, executive director of Vanderbilt’s Campus Dining, said students can buy reusable straws and bags at campus convenience stores, and students with a need for a bendable straw can ask for one.

Although it costs Vanderbilt about 21 percent more to buy compostable containers, he estimated the change will save 400 pounds of plastic from entering the landfills each year. It also takes the university one step closer to its zero-waste goal.

“We want to be the leaders in this space,” ter Kuile said. “… We want to be good stewards of the environment, not just with the food that we serve, but also with any waste and really minimizing that.”

In July, Nashville-based casual dining chain Shoney’s said it would move to paper straws by 2020 in all company-owned stores. CEO David Davoudpour said the paper straw was the only straw available when Shoney’s first opened 70 years ago, but it was phased out in the early 1970s in favor of plastic.

“But today is a new day, where longevity and sustainability usurp convenience. Shoney’s is here for the long haul, and getting it right is always at the top of our priority list,” Davoudpour said.

Melanie Tapp, senior director of food and beverage for 21c Museum Hotels, which operates a hotel in downtown Nashville, said the company eliminated plastic straws late last year at its seven open properties. They use biodegradable carry-out containers and flatware, and recyclable coffee cups and lids.

Under the initiative, Tapp estimated the company is eliminating more than 700,000 single-use plastic straws a year.

“I think it is only truly a small start for what we can do as humans and as a business to really make a difference, but it is a great start,” Tapp said.

Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.