MGM Resorts to no longer serve straws
(WJBK) - MGM Casino is rolling the dice with a new ban.
MGM Resorts International announced it's getting rid of plastic straws and stirrers. They'll be taken from casino floors, cafes, bars and lounges. This includes the location in Detroit.
The straws can still be served upon request.
This initiative, which began rolling out in May 2018, aims to eventually remove more than 250,000 straws a day from landfills and waterways-that's 100 million straws each year. MGM says its properties typically use 100 million plastic drinking straws a year.
Straws are one of the most common littered items in the U.S., and single-use plastic straws contribute to the rubbish floating in our oceans, severely affecting wildlife. Eight million metric tons of plastic winds up in the oceans each year, and in 2017 plastic straws were the 11th most found ocean trash.
One plastic drinking straw can take up to 200 years to breakdown in the environment. MGM Resorts International owns 19 resorts across the U.S. including three on major waterways-The Borgata, N.J.; National Harbor, M.D. and Beau Rivage, M.S. MGM Resorts believes by working together and reducing plastic straw use, the company can have a positive impact on the environment and oceans.
They're not the first ones to address plastic straw waste.
Also this week, Starbucks announced it, too, is ditching plastic straws. And earlier this month, the City of Seattle became the first major city in the U.S. to ban restaurants from giving plastic straws and utensils to customers.