Boca Raton company buying back plastic straws in exchange for eco-friendly alternative

Robert Stillman, founder and CEO of FarFromBoring Promotional Products in Boca Raton, will begin buying back plastic straws as well as selling paper straws as an alternative to plastic. (File photo)

As more municipalities and businesses move away from plastic straws, one company that already offers an alternative is offering to buy them back.

FarFromBoring Hospitality is offering to swap out local establishments’ current stocks of up to 20,000 plastic straws. The company founded an alternative paper straw called rhino straws, which it says is eco-friendly and reasonably priced. It’s also offering 15 percent off any paper straws it purchases in March.

“Americans use more 500 million plastic straws every day,” said Robert Stillman, CEO of FarFromBoring Promotions, FarFromBoring Hospitality’s parent company. “These pollute our oceans and are ingested by sea birds, turtles and other marine life. Many counties across the state of Florida have enacted a ban on plastic straws entirely.”

The Boca Raton company was started last November as more cities, counties and individual businesses and chains decided to decrease or effectively ban the use of plastic straws. It also offers cocktail and coffee stirrers and customizable designs.

Fort Lauderdale, Delray Beach, Coral Gables, Miami Beach and Hallandale Beach are among the municipalities that have voted to ban plastic straws, citing plastic pollution in the oceans and beaches, as well as the harm they cause birds and marine animals that accidentally ingest them.

Most cities still allow restaurants and bars to carry plastic straws, but require them to be given only when asked by customers. Straws will also still remain in hospitals, nursing facilities, schools and other places where people may have specific medical needs that necessitate their use.

“We know many vendors have current stock and don’t want to lose the money by throwing their plastic straws out,” Stillman said. “We hope our offer to purchase their stock helps them to move quickly in an effort to preserve what we are losing. Plus, we will also pick up the straws and dispose of them in an eco-friendly manner.”

With every case of paper straws sold, FarFromBoring Promotions will be making a donation to Trees for the Future, a Maryland-based nonprofit organization that plants trees in deforested regions around the world.

“Before we brought our paper straws to market in South Florida, there was very little product availability,” Stillman said. “What little inventory was available felt like cardboard and dissolved too quickly in drinks. Finally, the price point for these inferior-quality straws was far too much for restaurants to spend on a one-time use consumable.”

By: Austen Erblat Contact Reporter
South Florida Community News