Bars, pubs and cafes are turning to pasta as an eco-alternative to plastic straws across Adelaide

THERE’S a new environmentally-friendly alternative to plastic straws being used in pubs, bars and cafes across Adelaide. You’ll never guess what it is.

PASS THE PASTA: Lucie Pike at The Seller Door in Brighton with pasta straws, which are being used as an enviro-friendly alternative to plastic. Picture: TAIT SCHMAAL

WILL this be the last straw standing?

Juices, iced lattes and even cocktails about town are being slurped up with a new breed of straws, the environmentally-sound tube of pasta.

It’s the right way to sip cold drinks, say eco-savvy cafe and bar owners.

Tom Rodger introduced pasta straws to his Seller Door cafe in Brighton about three weeks ago, and says “the feedback has been all positive”.

He said the move to pasta was in response to many customers so passionate about avoiding plastic, that they bring their own metal straws.

“We are always looking for sustainable solutions,” he said at the health-conscious cafe, where re-usable bamboo straws are still used for dine-in thicker smoothies. The pasta straws are now popped into cold drinks, and ideal for takeaways.

“We buy the pasta straws from Pasadena Foodland,” he said, referring to the long tubes of pasta made in Italy. “They are a bit more expensive, but still within our margin so we happily swallow the cost, for the sake of the environment. In a beachside location like this, it’s a relevant move, where we are doing our bit, and will see a positive effect for the beach.”

He said the pasta would hold up for the time it takes to “leisurely” consume a drink, and with such positive feedback he is now looking at using renewable coffee cups.

Young Brighton local Lucie Pike, 20, said she was relieved to see a sustainable substitute for plastic straws.

“I’m a huge lover of Brighton Beach and it’s good to see there’s another way to do our part to help keep it clean,” she said. “I don’t use straws at home, but these are the solution for special drinks when you’re out.”

Others pasta-straw users include city bar Haines & Co and The Hwy in Plympton. And the good news is that we may soon see locally-made pasta straws. SA brand, San Remo, is on to it, says its marketing chief Erik de Roos, who is hoping the company will be able to produce a gluten-free version “to suit everyone”.

“We are exploring the possibilities,” he said. “I’d love to see San Remo making pasta straws. Instead of adding something with allergens into healthy drinks, it would be helpful for them all to be gluten-free.”