Dear Starbucks,

It has come to my attention as well as to the rest of the world's that your company is planning to ban plastic straws from all of your locations around the world by 2020. While I think it is extremely admirable that your company is doing this to help protect the environment, I don't quite agree with your decision.

You see, as a loyal Starbucks customer, a supporter of many of the initiatives that you have spearheaded in the past, and a big supporter of the environment and all initiatives that are put in place to protect it, when I first heard about the elimination of plastic straws from your stores - I was all for it. However, after contemplating the initiative, considering its pros and cons, and learning of the alternatives that would be available to customers, I became leery of the positive outcomes this would have - not for the environment, but for customers.

The use of biodegradable lids, but especially paper straws - while great for the environment - isn't giving any consideration to the disabled customer. You must understand that while not all disabled individuals have to use a straw to drink, several of them do, and while paper straws will be available for customers to use, the majority of paper straws won't "do the trick" for disabled customers, simply because most paper straws don't have the malleability that is required in order for them to be able to drink on their own, making the experience both embarrassing and a negative one.

While getting rid of plastic straws in your coffee shops may not seem like such a big deal to most people, it is a big deal because it illustrates an even bigger problem that this community is facing. This problem that I am speaking of is about so much more than a ban on plastic straws, it is about a community of people being overshadowed and made to feel like they are not being taken into consideration by not only large corporations such as Starbucks but able-bodied people in general.

In addition, this is about how a group of marginalized people is consistently being ignored by the rest of society. Simply put, if society continues to regard the disabled community as small, and their needs and wants as being relatively unimportant, it will become increasingly difficult for disabled individuals to be productive, fully-functioning members of society because with that mindset the accessibility of society will remain unchanged and thus making it harder for people with disabilities to navigate society with relative ease.

Please, I beg of you, do not think of this as a cry for help by the disabled community or even as us seeking your pity, but rather just as a way to raise awareness about the disabled community at large, the obstacles that they continue to face, and how the decision such as the ban on plastic straws is affecting these individuals.

Ultimately, your decision to ban plastic straws represents so much more - it represents what little awareness society has of the disabled community and how many of their struggles are as a result of society's actions. I urge you to think longer and harder about this decision.