A cafe in the Philippines has been earning praise online for using biodegradable straws made out of coconut leaves as a means of reducing plastic waste.
The eco-friendly straws called lukay (local term for palm leaves) can be found in Cafe Editha, located in Dapa, Surigao del Norte.
Sarah Tiu is a manager of Café Editha in Surigao Del Norte, The Philippines. She was never a fan of plastic straws, and first tried to use paper and stainless straws. Customers didn’t like them, and she had to think of something else.
Sarah Tiu said, “she was impressed with the idea of how coconut leaves were made into drinking straws during a family trip to Corregidor Island”.
“We purchased new buko and they simply cut lukay, at that point made it into straws. So we requested that they show us [because] we were exceptionally inspired with the thought,” Sarah Tiu said.
Buko is coconut juice, and lukay is the nearby term for coconut leaves and fronds. Coconut leaves are biodegradable and compostable.
Tiu introduced the use of lukay straws in their cafe and it appears to have been received positively not only by her cafe’s patrons but by netizens on social media as well. She also shared the photos of the lukay straws on Facebook in a bid to inspire other restaurant owners in their city.
Her aim is to raise awareness about eliminating plastic wastes and to promote creative ways to care for the environment. Plastic straws are banned from use now, and lukay straws aren’t the only option.
Do your own research and replace plastic straws with other safer alternatives.
