As of December 1, 2018, South Melbourne Market will be banning the use of plastic straws on its premises. This follows on from the market’s decision to ban single-use plastic bags back in April of this year.
With the market's decision to cease selling and providing plastic straws, market goers will now have the option of using provided paper straws or purchasing reusable aluminium straws from the market.
According to Clean Up Australia, Aussies use an estimated 10 million straws every day, which is about 3.5 billion straws a year. These straws are often used just once, and only for around 15 to 30 minutes before they’re thrown away. But because straws are so small and lightweight, they often don't make it into recycling and can often end up on our beaches, in our oceans or in our waterways.
The South Melbourne Market is owned and operated by the City of Port Phillip, which is keen to get as much plastic waste out of our waterways as possible through the Love Our Bay campaign. By eliminating the use of plastic straws, the market is continuing to uphold its commitment to be as sustainable as possible by reducing its environmental footprint and reducing plastic waste.