Boy, 11, sees cafes’ waste as last straw

Milo Cress of Longmont could be the youngest Eco Hero around.

The 11-year-old from Longmont started the Be Straw Free campaign and has caught the ear and support of George McKerrow, co-founder and chief executive of Ted’s Montana Grill.

Milo is on a quest to have people in high places sign his Be Straw Free pledge to reduce the waste that results from the estimated 500 million plastic straws used in the United States each day. Founded in February 2011, the campaign encourages restaurants and other businesses around the country to adopt an offer-first policy, which will significantly reduce the amount of plastic straws used daily by consumers in restaurants.

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After signing Milo’s pledge, McKerrow said, “This young man single-handedly is addressing an often-overlooked environmental issue for restaurants — the vast amount of plastic straws that go into our landfills each day and the decades each straw then takes to biodegrade. We support his goal to let plastic straws be an option for consumers as they once were, not just an automatic addition to every beverage served, and we applaud Milo for his vision and leadership. From young minds often come the very best ideas — ideas from which we can all learn.”