Bacardi forms plastic partnership with Lonely Whale

The drinks giant will also take the fight direct to consumers by organising a series of global collaborations, events and calls to action under the hashtag #thefuturedoesntsuck to encourage consumers, customers and corporate partners to lend their support to the campaign.

Rick Wilson, senior vice president of corporate responsibility for Bacardi, said: "Engaging our accounts and our consumers in the reduction of single-use plastic is a critical next step in helping to put an end to plastic pollution. Single-use plastic items are among the most collected pieces of trash in our oceans, and we are urging our consumers to add 'No plastic straw, please' to every drink order so together we can make impactful change."

Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale, added: “Americans alone are estimated to use around 500 million of these often non-essential single-use plastics every day. Removing straws from our daily lives could therefore have an enormously positive impact on our oceans' health.”

#Thefuturedoesntsuck campaign will begin in London where Bacardi and Lonely Whale will collaborate on persuading consumers and businesses to say no to single-use plastics, reinforcing that message with a series of illustrations highlighting the harmful effects of single-use plastic straws when they end up in the oceans.

Lonely Whale has previously campaigned for people to 'stop sucking' as part of a call to action devised by Possible.