Restaurants & Bars
Danny Meyer Restaurants To Ditch Plastic Straws
All restaurants in the Union Square Hospitality Group will phase out the use of plastic straws.

GRAMERCY, NY — All restaurants in Danny Meyer's restaurant group will phase out plastic straws, the prolific restaurateur announced on Thursday.
The Union Square Hospitality Group plans to transition to biodegradable straws at all of its businesses in "the very near future," a spokeswoman for the restaurant group confirmed.
The restaurant group has grown to include 18 bars and restaurants after starting with the Union Square Cafe, today located at 101 E. 19th St. The company's original restaurant tweeted on Thursday that it would phase out plastic straw use "after learning that 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year."
Find out what's happening in Gramercy-Murray Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
We decided to phase out plastic straws after learning that 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean every year. The team here is excited to help take a small step towards protecting our environment by replacing them with a biodegradable alternative! pic.twitter.com/Jdd7PpFDWb
— Union Square Cafe (@UnionSquareCafe) May 15, 2018
One small step. Planning to roll out biodegradable straws for all @USHGNYC restaurants in next weeks. https://t.co/vjKZJQEBmU
— Danny Meyer (@dhmeyer) May 15, 2018
Advocates estimates that the U.S. disposes of 500 million plastic straws every day. Plastic straw trash load is particularly burdensome on the planet because plastic straws don't biodegrade, and often end up in the ocean.
Other restaurants in the company include Martina, Daily Provisions and Gramercy Tavern.
Find out what's happening in Gramercy-Murray Hillfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Image credit: Ciara McCarthy / Patch
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.