*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.
Regulators seized troubled First Republic Bank early Monday, making it the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, and promptly sold all of its deposits and most of its assets to JPMorgan Chase.
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Powell appeared to discuss the economic impact of interest rate hikes.
Amazon on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected revenue and profits for the first quarter, sending its stocks higher in after-hours trading. But its prices took a dip in the evening amid concerns about a continued slowdown in the company's profitable cloud computing unit AWS.
