Globally, we throw away 500 million straws a day and according to PlasticOceans.org, we dump 8 million tonnes of single-use plastic in our oceans yearly.

Plastic cutlery and straws have an incredibly short usage time, yet take several 100 years to break down and decompose when they end up in our oceans. No marine species are safe from the toxic impact of the plastic that is heavily polluting our oceans. Straws and cutlery often end up in the digestive systems and in the noses and throats of our marine life, ultimately killing them and contributing to the depletion of already struggling species of fish and marine mammals. Multiple studies have also shown that we too are consuming the plastic fragments ingested by fish.

Starbucks, McDonald's and Subway are giants in their fields. They have the power to lead the way in industry-wide change when it comes to the wasteful and toxic throwing away of hundreds of millions of pieces of single-use plastic DAILY.

When they make the change, others will be encouraged to follow.

If smaller, independent coffee and fast-food stores are able to use paper straws and biodegradable alternatives to plastic cutlery, huge companies like Starbucks and McDonald's most definitely can too.

It is thought that if we continue on our current trajectory, by 2050 our oceans could hold more plastic than they do fish. We have to make a change NOW.