06/03/2024
For a few years now, young students here in Cambodia have embraced a plastic free culture, but today I went to Starbucks Cambodia/Laos Starbucks, and normally in Starbucks, in the big powerful Western world, I had plastic free straw when ordering my favorite Oatly drink. In Sweden, in most cafés, I had plastic free straws. In fact, I am 99.9% certain that even Starbucks in Shanghai had plastic free straw.
Now, I have to say that the straws offered here in Siem Reap are made of PLA plastic (while paper straws were hiding in the cupboard), but it doesn't change anything, because PLA plastic still becomes microplastic in lakes and rivers. Again, Cambodia is not for instance Sweden where this country recycles 99% of its waste, and that when wastes are burnt, it is in a waste-to-energy plant, not like here in the open air.
"Polylactic acid (PLA) is a popular replacement for conventional fossil-fuel based plastics products such as polyethylene (PE) due to its high biodegradability and recyclability. Previous studies confirmed that PLA microplastics (MPs) and PE MPs pose similar toxicity risks due to that MPs’ risk is primarily attributed to physical and indirect nutritional effects."(1)
Therefore, maybe, it would be important for Starbucks to localize. After all, even if Cambodian students embrace a plastic free culture, what's the point if even a huge corporation like Starbucks doesn't ? Now, the problem is not Starbucks, but maybe the fact that most of the world "don't give a s... about South East Asia." FYI, I just quoted 2 Asian friends who told me this today, and I responded, "I care". This until I become misanthrope.
Finally, I was told that by the Starbucks employees that they went back to plastic straws after "foreigners complained about the paper straws". Isn't ironic! I had 2 beverages today, with the paper straws I was given from the cupboard, and they were just perfect!
1. Source: High levels of microparticles release from biodegradable polylactic acid paper cups compared with polyethylene-lined cups https://lnkd.in/gFx8a_HR.
Siem Reap school students embrace plastic-free culture
