On a trip through an airport, Jason Forgash treated his children to frozen smoothies. Unfortunately, the paper straws the restaurant furnished soon turned into unappetizing mush, and the half-full smoothies ended up in the trash.
Forgash thought there had to be a better solution to concerns about plastics pollution than forcing consumers to use paper straws that begin dissolving while still in use.
“We need to do something to keep plastic straws available and still feel good about the environmental impact we’re having,” Forgash said. “I haven’t met a person yet who says, ‘I really love my paper straw.’”
The solution is to develop a means for consumers to conveniently recycle their plastic straws, Forgash said.