As coffee chains like Starbucks phase out plastic straws and start nationwide conversations about plastic use, Syracuse coffee shops are implementing other sustainable practices.

Starbucks announced in July that plastic straws would no longer be used at any location by 2020, and instead the chain will use strawless lids and straws made from other materials.  

Though owners and operators at local cafes like Salt City Coffee, Recess Coffee and Cafe Kubal said straw conversations have started at their shops since the Starbucks announcement, they’re looking first to practices like composting and recycling to reduce their environmental impact.

Salt City, located in a building from the 1860s on West Onondaga Street, opened in March 2017. Despite not having the profit margins of a chain like Starbucks, owner Aaron Metthe said one of the shop’s goals has been to consider its environmental responsibility and remain “viable.”

Last year, Salt City partnered with Brady Faith Center, a religious and community organization on South Avenue, to compost their coffee grounds, Metthe said. The shop saved the used grounds, and Brady Faith used them as fertilizer for its urban farm project.

Salt City Coffee, on West Onondaga Street, partnered with the Brady Faith Center last year to use its coffee grounds to make fertilizer for Brady Faith’s urban farm project. Colleen Ferguson | Asst. News Editor

“We’re trying to think through what can we do that makes sense for us,” he said.

Salt City is looking at alternatives to straws, a conversation that started when Starbucks made their announcement, Metthe said. The shop is planning to experiment with alternatives such as paper straws in the future, he added.

Beyond straws, Salt City is also trying to be more mindful of paper product usage and recently made the switch to LED lighting.

“(With) how small we are, we think to ourselves there’s no way this is actually going to make a difference,” he said. “Starbucks yes, us no.”

Cafe Kubal also pushes compost and the reduction of plastic straw use, said Rachael Smith, cafe manager of the Marriott Syracuse Downtown location. The Eastwood, Golisano Children’s Hospital and South Salina Street locations of Cafe Kubal all compost, Smith said. The South Salina location composts about 56 gallons of coffee grounds a week.

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Smith added that Cafe Kubal puts out the same strawless lids they use for their hot drinks as an option for cold drinks, and has been doing so for years because the cups are all the same size.

The cafe recently decided to make it clearer to customers that the lids can be used for both hot and cold drinks, she added.

While plastic straws are still available next to the black lids, a display is up at the various cafes to indicate that strawless lids can be used on any cup. Smith said that there hasn’t been recent discussion about eliminating straws from the stores entirely, but it may arise before next summer when iced drinks are most popular.

“We’re always kind of striving for slightly more sustainable options for our customers,” she said.

Paper straws tend to be fairly unreliable and flimsy, so they aren’t considered a viable option for Kubal, she added. By the holiday season, Kubal hopes to have metal and bamboo straws available for sale. Additionally, customers receive 25 cents off their purchase if they bring their own cups.

Recess Coffee is located in the heart of the Westcott neighborhood, at 110 Harvard Pl. They opened a second downtown location in 2015. Dan Lyon | Staff Photographer

Recess Coffee, in the University Hill area, is looking mostly at reusable options for now, said co-owner Adam Williams. Recess sells metal straws for $3. Williams said the reaction to those so far has been positive, adding that customers seem to be “working hard” to reuse the metal straws once they buy them.

Recess orders highly-graded coffee, which typically equates to more sustainable sourcing and processing practices, Williams said.  The Starbucks announcement didn’t change how they do their business, he said, but it did bring their attention to the strawless lid model.

“Love them or hate them, they’re the industry leader in specialty coffee,” Williams said of Starbucks. “I think you’re going to see a lot of people, us included, going more towards that model of the strawless cold lid.”

Published on October 24, 2018 at 10:37 pm

Contact Colleen: cefergus@syr.edu | @ColleenEFergus2