Environmental change starts with you.

Many big chain restaurants and fast-food establishments are currently trying to phase out plastic straws. These efforts don’t come cheap, as some companies are spending millions of dollars to make this change happen. This is happening as a new survey conducted by Business Insider reveals that a solid majority of young people support a plastic straw ban.

It would appear that restaurants are making a better choice than they originally thought. The synthetic polymers used to create plastic products do not decompose quickly enough on Earth. In fact, it can take 1000 years for many plastic items to decompose. According to the Ocean Conservatory, 643,000 plastic straws were uncovered on beaches and waterways worldwide. In an effort to combat the problem, city planners around the world are considering bans on plastic straws.

Environmental concerns are often believed to exist in a state of constant struggle with the business world. This has been true, and is currently true in many cases. However, the consumer is always king, and if the public is engaged enough to make their voices heard, the business community will adapt to public demand, while the businesses that don’t will become irrelevant in good time.