NiuePocketGuide.com Helps Eliminate Plastic Straws in Niue

NiuePocketGuide.com Donates Reusable Straws to Niue

While travelling around the island of Niue, ordering yourself a cocktail, smoothie or soft drink from the island’s laidback bars, you may notice that you receive a metal straw in your drink rather than your standard plastic alternative. That’s because NiuePocketGuide.com has donated reusable metal straws to every bar, cafe, restaurant and resort on the island, not only to celebrate the launch of Niue’s largest online travel guide but to help keep Niue and its surrounding waters pristine for generations to come.

You can also check out this story on the Niue Tourism website.

Just a Couple of 30-Somethings Can Make a Difference

Who is NiuePocketGuide.com? The team behind the travel guide is Laura and Robin, a couple of 30-somethings who decided that, instead of going on another island holiday this year, would buy and donate enough reusable straws to eliminate plastic straws from an entire country.

That’s just what one young couple can do. Imagine what we could achieve if everyone did their bit to look after the planet.

Why Reusable Straws?

As you may have noticed while browsing Niue’s largest travel guide, NiuePocketGuide.com takes a sustainable approach to visiting the island. Not only do we recommend slapping on the reef-safe sunscreen, suggest alternatives for using a car for your entire getaway, and provide gentle reminders about avoiding stepping on coral and more, but we are now donating reusable straws to all of the places in Niue that will use them!

Keeping the oceans and landfills free from harmful single-use plastic just got a little easier in Niue.

What’s Wrong with Plastic Straws?

Plastic straws are just one example of the world’s unnecessary reliance on single-use plastic – plastic that stays on this planet long after the person who used the plastic has gone. The type of plastic used for straws never fully degrades, only degrading into smaller pieces called “microplastics”.

Microplastics are particularly harmful to marine wildlife, which is found in so much abundance in the world’s oceans that small fish and krill can’t help but eat them, which are in turn, are consumed by wildlife higher in the food chain, such as whales and dolphins – species that are found in Niue’s beautiful waters. Microplastics have a poisoning effect on these marine species.

Even before a plastic straw becomes a microplastic, it can be devastating for seabirds who can easily pick up plastic and swallow it. Needless to say, plastic cannot be digested, so it remains in the bird’s stomach preventing it from eating the quantity of food it needs. Eventually, the bird will die of starvation. More than one million seabirds die each year from ingesting plastic.

Plastic straws are made from type 5 plastic, which is not a commonly accepted type of plastic for recycling. Most plastic straws head for landfills, which can escape into the environment during transportation, while some plastic straws are simply littered and eventually wash into the oceans. Plastic straws are the 11th most-found ocean trash.

Why Use Reusable Straws?

If you care about the wildlife you share the world with, then the devastating environmental impact of plastic straws should be enough to convince you to avoid these single-use plastic items altogether. But that doesn’t mean that you don’t have to live without sipping! Thanks to NiuePocketGuide.com, metal straws have become part of restaurant cutlery you’ll make use of when dining and drinking in Niue.

By using the reusable straws provided in Niue (or using your own when they’re not available), you’ll help eliminate the average 50,000 plastic straws per year from entering Niue’s landfill and, in turn, the ocean.

Where Will You Find Niue Pocket Guide’s Reusable Straws?

So where can you try out NiuePocketGuide.com’s flashy stainless steel reusable straws? The below restaurants, cafes and bars have had reusable straws donated to them, so hopefully, they are making use of the donation. (Of course, we can’t make businesses do something they don’t want to do…)

Crazy Uga Cafe & Bar
Washaway Cafe & Bar
Gill’s Restaurant & Takeaway (Closed)
Jenna’s Restaurant
Scenic Matavai Resort
Tavana’s Cafe
Kaiika
Vaiolama Cafe
Inukaitala Cafe (Closed)
Hio Cafe & Bar
Clayton’s Bar
Matapa Bar
Niue Golf & Sports Club
Pacific Way Bar
Alofi Rugby Club
Wok on the Rock (Closed)
All Relativf

Learn more about these restaurants in our Food & Drink category.

Are the Reusable Straws for Sale?

No, the reusable straws donated to Niue’s restaurants are not for sale and not for customers to keep. They are just like receiving any other piece of cutlery at a restaurant, such as a knife and a fork – you use them, then leave them on the table when you’re done. Simple!

Think the reusable straws are pretty neat? There are a ton of options to buy your own set of reusable straws, which are small and easy to carry around with you (there are even some for sale at the Niue Visitor Information Centre). That way, when you are visiting a place that isn’t as forward-thinking and sustainable as Niue, you’ll have your own sustainable solution.

Check out Scurry Reusable Metal Straw or the Dinostraw Silicone Travel Straw.

More About Sustainable Ways to Visit Niue

Now check out our tips for eco-conscious travellers in the 25 Ways to Travel More Sustainably in Niue, as well as more generic travel tips in the following:

Finally, head to Niue’s Tourism’s press release, Plan to Eliminate Plastic Straws in Niue, on their website.

Author

Robin C.

This article was reviewed and published by Robin, the co-founder of Niue Pocket Guide. He has lived, worked and travelled across 16 different countries before settling in the South Pacific, so he knows a thing or two about planning the perfect trip in this corner of the world. He is also consulting regularly with Niue Tourism to ensure content accuracy. Robin is also the co-founder of several other South Pacific travel guides and is a regular host of webinars with the South Pacific Tourism Organisation.

Contact Robin via our contact page