LA Chef Starts Campaign To End Use Of Plastic Straws

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Going strawless to protect the environment.

An L.A. restaurant owner is spearheading a growing movement to convince eateries not to serve straws with drinks.

Marcel Vigneron, owner of Wolf Restaurant on Melrose Avenue, has been a chef for more than 20 years. He's appeared on "Top Chef," "Iron Chef" and many other shows over the years. He is also an avid surfer.

"We're calling it 'Straws Suck' because if you think about it it's a play on words," said Vigneron. "You actually use straws to suck and they suck because they pollute the oceans."

A few years ago restaurants in Manhattan Beach did their part by reducing plastic use too. Now Vigneron is hoping other bars and restaurants popping up on busy Melrose Avenue will follow suit.

Vigneron said of course if a customer wants a straw, they have them on hand. However, the servers are now asking customers whether they want a straw as opposed to putting a straw in their drinks, hopefully reducing the amount of plastic that gets wasted.

"Every day in the United States 500 million straws are used, which can fill up 127 school buses," said Vigneron.

Recently a documentary was released called "Straws" about straw litter and how we can make a sea of change -- one straw at a time. For this celebrity restaurateur, he said he feels he is doing his part.

"I see the impact that it has on the beaches and into the marine wildlife," said Vigneron.