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In light of the climate change protest that happened on Friday, Bacardi spirits has teamed up with Lonely Whale to combat single use plastic straws. Their proposition? Taking old and used plastic straws and making vinyl records. Melissa Locker wrote this article and discussed how these two companies plan to create and produce these “vinyl’s”. Locker writes about how Major Lazer is one of the artists who will have their music pressed onto the limited-edition vinyl records in early December. She also mentioned that this weekend, Bacardi will set up a booth at a music festival in Las Vegas and show people their new idea. In November, 55 partnering bars will set up collection bins for straws and send them to Bacardi. It is Bacardi and Lonely Whale’s goal to rid the world of one billion single-use plastic straws by 2020.

What’s interesting about this article is the idea of up-cycling in a really creative way. Single use drinking straws have been a hot topic in the news for the past few months. Using reusable straws has become a very big craze because it’s a new way a person can reduce their carbon footprint in an immediate way. The idea of taking those straws and making records out of them is very innovative. Up-cycling is becoming more popular and even though many bars and restaurants use paper straws, it hasn’t stopped the issue fully. Taking the straws from the bars and making them something new is a good way to help the problem. I also find it interesting that vinyl records have become more popular in the past decade, so much so that Bacardi can create these records knowing that there will be a market for them. I think Bacardi is taking some positive steps to help resolve an issue that drinking straws have created. As mentioned, the cardboard straws aren’t the most favorable straw because they become soggy and hard to use after a short amount of time. Personally, I like this idea because it brings awareness to the issue drinking straws have created for the environment, while reminding people that there are creative ways to make something new out of single-use products. It helps to reinforce that one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure.