American Airlines says it will stop using plastic straws and drink stirrers and replace them with biodegradable alternatives.
Starting this month in its airport lounges, American will serve drinks with straw and wood stir sticks and begin moving to what it calls eco-friendly flatware. And starting in November on planes, it will replace plastic stir sticks with ones made from bamboo. The airline said the moves will eliminate more than 71,000 pounds of plastic a year.
Larger U.S. airlines – Delta, United and Southwest – still use plastic straws, according to representatives of those carriers.
Some cities have banned plastic straws because they are often not recycled and wind up as trash in landfills and oceans.
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