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Malibu surfside news | June 7, 2018 | 5
Paradise Cove unveils novel noodle straw
Barbara Burke
Freelance Reporter
While the City of Malibu’s
new June 1 ordinance
gives teeth to the plastic
straw ban, many in Malibu
already had a heart for the
impact plastic can have on
their beloved surroundings.
Such is the case for Bob
Morris, owner of Paradise
Cove Beach Cafe, located
at 28128 Pacific Coast
Highway.
“I grew up on this ocean
since I was a kid,” Morris
said. “I’m an old surfer
and the ocean is my
home. What’s happening
with plastic straws in the
ocean is awful and I am
so proud of Malibu for being
a leader in paving the
way to get rid of all plastic
straws.”
Morris, who spent his
boyhood playing in Paradise
Cove where he now
runs his restaurant, got to
thinking about what to do
about providing a straw to
customers.
“I called my supplier,
Sysco, and asked how
many straws our restaurant
purchased last year,” he
said. “It was an astounding
600,000! Then, I got
to researching how big the
problem is worldwide. In
America, we throw away
500 million straws a day
and 183 million each year;
it’s terrible.”
So, Morris set out to determine
what alternatives
were available.
“The paper straws aren’t
much of a solution due to
how they’re fabricated
and the fact that many
vendors making them
coat them with wax,” he
said. “Then, I toyed with
the idea of straws from a
cornstarch solution, but
that is rife with troubles,
as it doesn’t compost well
either.”
Harkening back to his
father’s sage advice from
long ago, “always take a
negative and turn it into a
positive,” he soon found
the solution he’d been
looking for: straws made
of pasta.
“It works excellently!
It composts within days
and it lasts for four hours
before it starts to get limp.
It’s the perfect solution,”
he said. “With so much
wrong with the world that
the little guy really can’t
do anything about, I’m so
happy I came upon a solution
that I can do something
about.”
Thinking he had solved
the situation for just his
venue, Morris has been
shocked by the worldwide
attention his idea has generated.
“[Recently], a film crew
flew in from Japan to
take a look at my idea,”
he said.
Morris said he ordered a
year’s worth of inventory
from a pasta company in
Italy.
“The lady told me it was
the biggest order they’d
had in their 100 years of
business,” Morris said. “I
didn’t buy it in California
because a lot of pasta made
here has ingredients that
don’t compost well. The
ones we are using compose
in just 10 days.”
Further, Paradise Cove
made changes to its utensils,
opting for wooden
versions.
“We decided against
bamboo because it lasts for
a long time and it doesn’t
compost,” he noted.
Morris said he’ll have
some paper straws that
are gluten-free if asked,
though he said he was told
the pasta doesn’t release
the gluten unless it is heated.
“I’m just trying to do
what I can in our little next
of the woods to make a difference,”
he said.
His son, Tim Morris, a
manager at Paradise Cove,
aptly summed up the innovative
concept.
“Use pasta straws and
avoid plastic ones,” he
said. “That’s using your
noodle.”
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When the City of Malibu passed its plastic straw ban,
which went into effect June 1, Paradise Cove restaurant
turned to pasta to create its new straws.
Barbara Burke/22nd Century Media
800.501.1988
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