Hi everyone! On August 23rd, we went to the Dunkin’ Donuts headquarters and met Karen Raskopf, who is the Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer for Dunkin’ Donuts. We told her about our petition, and she told us that in order to make changes she had to make sure that it wasn’t too expensive, it was sustainable, and it made the customers happy.

She told us that they’ve made some changes that aren’t necessarily such as making the plastic cup lids thinner and making the lids out of the same marterial as the cup so the entire cup is recyclable. They said that so far they were looking into the idea of changing the plastic straw but they have encountered a few problems. She said that they were worried that the paper straw would break down if it was in a cold drink for too long, the sippy cup lids would have more plastic than the straws, and the sippy cup lids might fall from the weight of the ice if one tilted the drink. They were, however, looking into bamboo straws which would be a great solution. We think that they could also use straws out of wheat, pasta, selling some stainless steel straws, and straws made out of other plants!

Overall, it was a great meeting and you can find us at: https://whdh.com/news/brookline-girls-deliver-petition-urging-dunkin-donuts-to-get-rid-of-plastic-straws/

Thank you for all your support!

Sophia and Amanda