Intermountain Healthcare has joined an environmental movement to reduce the use of straws. And this health care giant has traditionally used a whole bunch of them at its cafés and bistros across the state of Utah.
The company announced that it will switch to strawless lids at all 39 of its food outlets in Utah, which it estimates will reduce the number of straws used at Intermountain Healthcare facilities by 2 million per year.
“It’s a good feeling to know we’re greatly reducing plastic usage and helping Utah’s environment,” said Robin Aufdenkampe, Intermountain’s food and nutrition director.
Intermountain is not exactly going straw-free. Straws will still be available to patients, and upon request in cafes. That will still mean Intermountain expects to go through nearly 3 million straws.
According to the company, before the switch it used 94,000 straws per week —almost 4.9 million per year. And the strawless lids are themselves plastic, although they are “manufactured using less plastic, so less waste is created,” resulting in “a significantly positive impact on Utah’s environment.”
“One of the big problems with plastics is they break down, but they never go away,” said Steve Bergstrom, Intermountain Healthcare’s director of sustainability. “The plastic in straws takes even longer to break down. Intermountain is committed to reducing waste and helping our environment and the communities that we serve through these initiatives.”