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Great Wolf Lodge to ban plastic straws

The water park chain said its switch to paper will save more than five million plastic straws from entering landfills each year.

A girl plays in a "Big Foot Pass" activity pool at a Great Wolf Lodge.
A girl plays in a "Big Foot Pass" activity pool at a Great Wolf Lodge.Read moreGreat Wolf Resorts

Great Wolf Resorts will stop using single-use plastic straws at its indoor water parks, making it the latest major business to ban plastic straws in a bid to protect the environment.

Great Wolf, which operates 17 water parks across North America, including one in the Pocono Mountains, announced Tuesday that it will remove plastic straws from its food and beverage locations before the end of this year. It will replace the plastic straws with more environmentally-friendly paper ones, the company said in a statement.

The indoor water park chain said the move will prevent more than five million plastic straws from entering landfills each year.

"As a family resort, we feel it's imperative that we do our part to ensure that children visiting Great Wolf Lodge today will be able to enjoy the natural wonders reflected in our resort's outdoor, northwoods theme for years to come," Great Wolf Resorts CEO Murray Hennessy said in a statement.

Great Wolf joins a growing list of large corporations to ban plastic straws, including Starbucks, Disney, and Aramark. The city of Seattle barred plastic straws earlier this month, and San Francisco is poised to prohibit straws and other plastic items starting next year.

More than 500 million straws are used every day in the United States, and most recycling facilities won't accept them, according to EcoCycle, a nonprofit recycling group.

Great Wolf says it will maintain a small supply of other straw options for guests who are unable to drink from non-flexible paper straws.