In the Philippines, a café owner’s Facebook post has spurred interest in using coconut leaves as a sustainable alternative to plastic straws.
Café Editha manager Sarah Tiu posted about how rolling up coconut leaves could create an effective, cheap, and eco-friendly straw. The post was shared thousands of times.
“We still have a lot to eradicate,” Tiu tells Goodnewsnetwork.com. “[But] hopefully we can find more alternatives to create less waste.”
While Café Editha is in Surigao del Norte, Tiu got the idea from a restaurant in Siargao, where she recently vacationed. The manager there taught her how to make the straws, locally known as lukays. Café Editha’s Facebook page features an instructional video for consumers looking to craft their own lukays.