This is an open letter to all Malaysians and fast food outlets in the country, especially McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, etc.

The world is dying – even our children are aware of this reality. We are doing very little to help save the planet and our beloved nation. Our air is constantly polluted and this worsens from year to year. Equally critical is the damage to our environment, our food and water sources.

A major concern is the plastic in our food sources, especially seafood sources. Much of the plastic comes from our heavy use and abuse of plastic with careless disposal, often ending up in the sea. Most of us are currently consuming plastic in our food.

There are many sources of plastic waste, from our fascination with disposable water bottles to plastic bags to “tapau” food and drinks.

One serious source of plastic is plastic straws. We use millions and millions of plastic straws every year. A conservative estimate is that we use more than 20,000,000 plastic straws a week.

For example, if one third of Malaysians eat out twice a week and order one drink each time with a plastic straw, we would be using more than 20 million straws a week, more than one billion straws a year. As mentioned, these are conservative estimates. The reality is much, much worse.

Our pollution of the environment with plastic is of a much larger magnitude. Our real usage in Malaysia could be more like five to ten million plastic straws a day.

On the whole, our recycling is poor. Malaysian society as a whole has limited ecological awareness. Saving our environment is not on the mind of the average person. We need to recognise that every small bit counts.

While we wait for the average Malaysian to change, we appeal to all our fast food outlets and regular food outlets (corner coffee shops, mamak shops, pasar malam, etc) to stop dispensing straws routinely for any cold or hot drink and make them only available to customers who request them.

We should offer straws to people who need them, perhaps some people with motor dysfunctions or other disabilities. The general public don’t need a straw to drink – it is just an excess. Have a “straws on request” policy. Remember, it saves money as well and makes your food outlet more competitive and eco-friendly.

We also appeal to all Malaysians to request that their drinks come without straws. We all need to play our part, acknowledge the damage to the environment and educate our fellow Malaysians to avoid using straws as far as possible. Make the plastic straw you used yesterday the last one you’ll ever use.

5 important facts on plastic and plastic straws:

1. 80%-90% of all marine debris is made from plastic.
2. Straws are too small to be easily recycled, so they are disposed as trash and often end up in the ocean.
3. Straws are very harmful to animals, especially marine life. Most are ingested or entrap them.
4. Plastic takes 400-500 years to degrade.
5. Some studies have shown that one third of all fish that we eat has ingested plastic.

One review of plastic waste in the oceans ranks Malaysia as a moderate plastic polluter. Asian countries are among the largest polluters.

So the next time you go out for a meal or drink (that will be today or tomorrow), remember to say – “Give me that drink without a straw, please.”

Fast food outlets and makan shops/stalls: remember that you are a major polluter of our oceans and damaging the health of our people. Stop the routine use of straws. Move to a “straws on request” policy.

If we want our children and grandchildren to have a meaningful future, we have to act today to reduce our plastic waste.
Tomorrow may be one straw too late.

Thank you.

Dr Amar-Singh HSS is president of the National Early Childhood Intervention Council.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of FMT.