“Don’t be a sucker”. That’s the key slogan of a new campaign to get rid of straws or only provide them to customers who specifically request the colourful plastic drinking aid many end up chewing to pieces. Several establishments in London’s trendy Soho quarter have already signed up for the so-called “Straw Wars” (http://strawwars.org), the website of which features a cartoon of a straw-sucking teen being “fish-slapped”. The campaign is the latest in a series of initiatives highlighting the problem of plastic waste in the world’s oceans.

“Join, you must” is what Jedi Master Yoda probably would have told young Luke Skywalker, knowing full well that the Jedi apprentice’s mission against the dark side would prevent him from using the Force to empty the oceans of plastic rubbish.