Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- Americans use 500 million straws every day.
To understand just how many that is, it would fill over 125 school buses or wrap around the entire globe 2.5 times. That's according to the National Park Service.
Now, major corporations like Starbucks, American Airlines and Hyatt are ditching plastic straws, aiming for a product that's better for the environment.
As it turns out, we have our fair share of local businesses in the Midlands doing the same.
"There was a meme on Facebook that said, 'It's only 1 straw...said 8 billion people'," said Susan DeMarco, owner of Sweet Pea's Ice Cream Parlor in Blythewood.
Thanks to a large initiative, plastic straws, bags and cups could soon be a thing of the past.
"I did the straws probably about three months ago," said DeMarco. "We're one little, tiny ice cream parlor in Blythewood, but we feel like it's our responsibility to always do what we think is best for the overall population."
Sweet Pea's is ditching Styrofoam, too and instead opting for paper cups. Their first shipment came in this week.
"It's a tad bit more expensive, but when you look at the offset of what you're doing to protect our environment, it certainly makes sense," said DeMarco.
Worldwide, plastic straws are the sixth most common type of litter, according to Litterati.
Straws may be small, but the amount of waste adds up.
Plastic straws are almost never recycled because they're too small, and could be made from several types of plastic.
The Ocean Conservancy also lists plastic straws among the top 10 marine debris items.
"We're moving onto some more recyclable and more biodegradable products for our dining room and for our to-go orders, because we do a lot of to-go orders," said George Kessler, Executive Chef of il Giorgione off Devine Street.
Along with biodegradable pizza boxes, il Giorgione also uses sustainable straws, bowls and cups.
"Anyone who's from New York will recognize these [cups] because every coffee truck in New York and every diner in New York has these cups for their to-go beverages," said Kessler.
Their next move is paper to-go bags instead of plastic.
"The trend of the future is to get away from this wasteful plastic that's cluttering up our fresh waters and our landfills and everything," said Kessler. "Anything we can do to move in that direction we want to do that...Just help out our little part of the world here in Columbia, but then be a part of the bigger picture throughout the world."
Sweet Pea's and il Giorgione are only two of a growing list of Midlands businesses going 'green'.
Riverbanks Zoo is working to reduce the use of plastic straws in the park, helping inspire guests to take action against plastic pollution.
In May 2016, Riverbanks removed single-use plastic straws and lids from the park to ensure the safety of the animals. In April of this year, the zoo collaborated with SCDNR to kickoff #TheLastStraw campaign at the Party for the Planet event where zoo guests took a pledge to reduce their use of plastic straws by spreading the word and sharing a selfie on social media using #TheLastStraw. Pledges would receive an aluminum straw. Then on Earth Day of this year, Riverbanks partnered with local restaurants and businesses as part of a Straw-Free Day to promote straw awareness and its negative effects on wildlife.
In the zoo's Sea Lion presentations, they focus on plastic pollution and single-use plastics. Limited Edition Riverbanks aluminum straws are also given to Sea Lion backstage tours participants, and a selection of reusable aluminum straws are now available for purchase at the park.
Motor Supply Company is also environmentally-conscious. For example, they reuse their daily changing paper menus as coasters.
"From food being sourced via local sustainable, organic and near-organic farms to re-using our paper menus as drink coasters, reducing waste is something that our team is passionate about. Making the switch to paper straws was an easy decision for us. We're proud to add that our paper straws are made in the U.S., further reducing our ecological footprint," said Josh Streetman, Motor Supply's Head Barman.
When testing bar drinks, Streetman realized how many plastic straws he was using and throwing away. He then opted for steel straws, a change that led him to seek a better alternative: paper straws distributed from the Midwest.
Drip and Bourbon Columbia use paper straws. Art Bar uses Green Stripe straws made of compostable plastic.