Starbucks To Go Strawless Worldwide By 2020

There's a burgeoning movement in Europe, Asia, North America, and beyond to ditch plastic straws, and Starbucks is looking to lead the way. On Monday, July 9, the major coffee chain announced plans to replace single-use plastic straws in its 28,000-plus stores worldwide by 2020.

According to a press release, Starbucks will begin moving away from plastic straws and toward paper and compostable plastic this fall in stores in Seattle and Vancouver. Starbucks' announcement comes in good time; their hometown of Seattle just became the first major U.S. city to ban single-use plastic straws and utensils.

So, what will Starbucks customers get instead? For Frappucinos (and upon request), there will be compostable plastic straws and paper straws in stores. Most iced beverages will come with a strawless lid. The strawless lid for Starbucks's iced beverages is not unlike the standard hot coffee cup lid caffeine drinkers are already familiar with.

If a strawless lid sounds a bit funky to you, you can start trying it today. In conjunction with their straw-free initiative announcement, Starbucks debuted two new iced drinks Monday, the Iced Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk Latte and a Salted Cream Cold Foam Cold Brew.

The latter is what its name implies: a cold brew infused with caramel syrup. The real star of this drink is the salted cream cold foam, which is the perfect balance of sweet, salty, and creamy. Think of the best salted caramel you've ever tasted — it's like that. The new drink comes with the strawless lid.

Meanwhile, the Iced Vanilla Bean Coconutmilk Latte innovates in a new way; it has no syrup and is sweetened with coconutmilk and real vanilla bean. The result is a bit thin, but it's a healthier alternative to those super-sugary Starbucks lattes. Between the straw-free initiative and these summery new drinks, there's a reason why Starbucks is the No. 1 coffee chain in America!