Mountain View Restaurants Join 'Strawless September' Campaign
MOUNTAIN VIEW (KPIX 5) -- With plastic straws becoming a high-profile threat to the environment as millions pollute our oceans, one Bay Area city is taking on the big commitment to have a "Strawless September."
It's lunchtime at Oren Hummus in Mountain View. The Mediterranean restaurant is serving up drinks without straws to its customers as one of at least seven restaurants on Castro Street that have pledged to stop using plastic straws.
It's all part of the "Strawless September" that's spreading across the city of Mountain View.
Oren Hummus customer Amit Bahl supports the idea.
"I think that's fantastic! I think as long as they keep their cups clean, we're all happy!" said Bahl .
In fact, Bahl no longer uses plastic straws in his own home.
"For my kids I wanted to build awareness around Strawless September. So I got them glass straws which I think helps drive home the point," said Bahl. "They were excited. They were like, 'What are these?'"
Bobbi Wilmoth is the woman behind the Strawless September campaign in Mountain View.
As a little bit of a one-woman band here, I thought, I can do this
Wilmoth said she loves the ocean and wanted to do her small part to save the planet from plastic.
She says thousands of single-use straws are used in the United States every day.
"This is something really easy we can all do," said Wilmoth. "I think most of us get overwhelmed with the idea that there's all this plastic in our lives and how do I stop or I'm not going to do anything at all."
She recommended asking for drinks without a straw or using paper straws at restaurants.
KPIX 5 spoke to some people who said plastic straws are just part of the problem.
"The containers, the cups, those are probably even worse than just the plastic straws," said Mountain View restaurant owner Kenny Qiu.
The owners of Oren Hummus said they plan to keep going strawless past September.
