Sugarbush Switches To Paper Straws In Restaurants, Lids In Cafeterias

As part of their ongoing environmental initiatives to reduce waste, Sugarbush Resort is switching out all plastic straws for paper straws in all of its restaurants. In addition, the resort will be switching to sipping lids for drinks in their cafeterias in place of lids that accommodate straws.

“We’re excited to be able to make this change,” said Gerry Nooney, Vice President of Culinary Operations at Sugarbush. “Ski resorts, as part of the outdoor industry, should always be looking for ways to make an environmental difference and this is an easy switch for us to make in our food and beverage venues.”

According to www.get-green-now.com, the United States uses 500 million plastic straws every day and plastic straws are now the 11th most found ocean trash. Sugarbush has continued to look for ways to reduce waste and increase its diversion rate over the past several years. In addition to recycling for a number of years, the resort introduced composting in 2010 for kitchens and guest composting in 2014. Since 2010 Sugarbush has converted more than 140 tons of food scraps to compost with the assistance of Grow Compost in Moretown, Vermont. In 2016 Sugarbush introduced its first four-stream public waste receptacles, which can now be found at both Lincoln Peak and Mt. Ellen.

The paper straws will be used in conjunction with the resort’s “straws upon request” policy, where restaurant and cafeteria staff will provide straws for drinks if asked.