Kevin Andrews, the owner of Good Day Cafe, doesn’t give his customers any single-use plastics; instead he uses paper and a sugarcane alternative.
Bagasse, the sugarcane material, is fully compostable and doesn’t last longer than 90 days in a landfill.
Andrews says keeping the coastline clean and plastic out of the ocean is part of his responsibility as a business owner with a shop just one block from the water, and the added costs of the eco-friendly alternatives are well worth it.
“The cost of polluting the ocean and our number one resource which is our beach and ocean, equals tourism, the cost is not even a concern for me because we can’t afford to lose or abuse our resource,” Andrews said.
Implementing the use of smart recycling bins, banning cigarettes on the beach and enforcing a 25 cent impact fee on to-go orders that require plastic containers are a few ways Andrews thinks the City of Myrtle Beach could help the beaches stay clean.
He added Myrtle Beach residents should benefit from the impact fee with a rebate at the end of the season.
