10 McDonald’s S’pore Outlets Trial Removing Straws & Single-Use Plastics From 1 Sept 2019

Plastic has been one of the main reasons why whales are dying today.

Besides being washed up on the beaches after monsoon rains, whales and other sea animals swallow the thousand-year-to-melt things unwittingly.

Imagine going around with a watermelon weight in your stomach that is not a baby. Maybe an ultra-large tumor. Okay, touchwood, you say.

But 10 McDonald’s S’pore outlets have started a trial of doing away with plastic disposables for a period of time.

These outlets are at:

• V-Hotel
• Potong Pasir
• Choa Chu Kang Lot 1
• Jurong Green CC
• Raffles City,
• Bendemeer
• Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3
• Toa Payoh Central
• Boat Quay
• SpringLeaf Tower

Good news, you say? Especially when you consume your favorite burger or get a cup of iced milo only to stop at the straws counter and realize, they have no straws. 

Moreover, single-use plastic disposables such as plastic bags, cutlery, McFlurry cups, and saucers have been substituted with more sustainable alternatives such as food-grade paper packaging and wood material.

Patrons’ Responses Are Studied

No pilot trial test can be conducted without monitoring the results.

McDonald’s is doing so for its ten outlets to gauge the feasibility of such a switch, before implementing it nation-wide.

The well-known hamburger giant is taking a leaf out of trial-runs piloted globally to develop suitable sustainable solutions.

Thumbs up, McDonald’s. Ronald would have been proud of you. If he can speak.

A spokesperson from McDonald’s said: “We are constantly looking at ways to use scale to drive positive change in the communities we serve.”

Pretty words. Ten outlets only barely scratch the surface of international waste reduction, but efforts must certainly be commended, and not overlooked.

If each person can be ethically mindful of what goes into and leaves their hands, then collectively we may have a better and more pristine world. It would probably be like the raw beaches on Jomalig Island, or perhaps even anywhere in the Philippines.