*By Justin Chermol*
Starbucks announced plans on Monday to elimate the use of plastic straws by 2020, making it the largest company yet to undertake the green initiative.
The coffee chain will transition to new lids which feature a raised lip to drink from, a design already being used for some of the company’s cold brew drinks. The new lids will begin rolling out this fall in Canada as well as in Starbucks’ home city of Seattle. For those customers who insist on straws, the company will offer eco-friendly versions made of paper or compostable plastic.
Starbucks stated this policy will cut the number of plastic straws used by one billion per year -- the proliferation of them has contributed to devastating ocean pollution and threatens marine life.
Local governments across the United States initially spearheaded the plastic-strawless movement. Just last week Seattle banned both plastic straws and utensils. Some of America’s largest cities like New York and San Francisco have proposed plans to remove plastic straws as well.
Samsung launches its “AI in Action Lab” in NYC, giving public high school students hands-on AI experience and tools to prepare for real world innovations.
Gen Z workers are increasingly worried AI could replace their jobs. However, experts say companies are using AI more to assist workers than replace them.
Matt Schultz of CleanSpark discusses Bitcoin mining and AI infrastructure converge, energy demand dynamics, and the company’s position in the evolving market.
Bhavin Shah of ServiceNow discusses how the new Autonomous Workforce AI automates tasks, integrates with Teams and Slack, and boosts workplace efficiency.
Angi is partnering with OpenAI to bring its home services marketplace directly into ChatGPT, allowing users to go from questions to booking local pros.
