GONZALES — Gonzales Youth Council says “No Straw November” was a success with several local restaurants participating and only a few negative survey results.
The council organized an effort to reduce the amount of single-use plastic used in Gonzales during November using a campaign called “No Straw November.” The campaign focused on raising awareness and asking local restaurants to only serve straws under petition for the whole month. With the support of Maury Treleven, the youth council had nine local restaurants participate.
The restaurants who participated included Burger King, Carlitos, Del Valle Paleteria, La Enchilada, Lucky Bamboo, Luigi’s, Tacos de Jalisciense, Taqueria Comidas Sabrosas and Taqueria El Famoso. Among the restaurants, six were surveyed and asked questions, such as “How was the overall experience?”, “Was there easy participation from staff?”, “How did customers react?” and “Were there any complaints?”
According to council members, the restaurants said supporting No Straw November was easy. There were no problems with getting staff on board with the campaign. As for the customers, there were complaints, although there was some negativity that was swayed once the customers were told about the No Straw November campaign. The survey results also reported that not many customers asked for straws and having the table cards explaining the campaign were helpful especially when they were bilingual.
Two new topics that came about were having paper straws and reusable soda cups. Among the improvements for next year are sturdier materials for table cards and more visibility for posters.
