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Lessing’s Hospitality Group is taking a stand for the environment.
The organization, which operates over two dozen restaurants and catering halls across Long Island, has announced via Instagram that all 10 of its restaurants are going “strawless.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnJn97zBG_J/?taken-by=lessingshospitality
The group rolled out its Skip the Straw campaign on Friday.
“The motivation comes from a lot of the Lessing family, and staff too, who live on the South Shore and the water being a part of our life,” said Jen Cantin, a Lessing’s spokeswoman. “Having clean water and clean oceans is important.”
According to a nonprofit called Strawless Ocean, approximately 500 million straws are used yearly in American, with many of them ending up in the waterways.
The new biodegradable straws the Lessing’s will be using include corn plastic straws to be used in its Suffolk County restaurants and hay straws in Nassau County.
“It is 100 percent renewable and BPI certified,” said Cantin.
Even with the new straws, the goal of the Lessing’s campaign is to get people to ween off the drinking device.
To do so, most drinks will not even come with the straws; they must be asked for.
“As a company, we are constantly trying to take the next step,” explained Cantin. “Like Suffolk County’s plastic bag law people are use to it now. This the first step for us.”
So far, the response has been great, she said.
“People have been fully on board with the campaign,” said Cantin.
Cantin also listed other recent initiatives the Lessing’s Group has launched with the environmental in mind (scroll down).
“We want to send a message out there that everything helps,” said Cantin.
plastic bags no more
Later this week, each Lessing’s restaurant will be replacing its plastic to-go bags with brown paper bags.
saving the sea turtles
The Lessings are working with Naked Turtle Rum, a liquor company, who ‘s able to save a sea turtle with every purchase of its white rum.
To support the foundation, each Lessing’s restaurant will be adding a cocktail with Naked Turtle Rum in it.
beach cleanup
On Sept. 29, Lessing’s will be hosting its annual beach cleanup with the Babylon-based non-profit Save the Beaches.
From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., volunteers will be lining along Gilgo Beach for the cleaning.
“We invited the entire company and family to help us clean up,” said Cantin.
