WASHINGTON — The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grill joins the wave of establishments deciding to eliminate plastic straws. The Greene Turtle says starting May 23, which happens to be World Turtle Day, its restaurants will go plastic straw free in an effort to protect marine life. It says biodegradable straws will be available for certain beverages and only upon request. Greene Turtle, whose first sports bar opened in Ocean City, Maryland in 1976, has grown to 46 locations in Maryland, Virginia, D.C., West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Long Island in New York. “The Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grill values protecting marine life,” said Layla Nielsen, senior director of marketing at Greene Turtle. “We are excited to do our part by skipping the straw and helping reduce the number of plastic straws in the ecosystem.” Greene Turtle’s decision comes the same week New York restaurateur Danny Meyer, owner of Union Square Cafe, tweeted his restaurants would roll out biodegradable straws for all restaurants in coming weeks.

One small step. Planning to roll out biodegradable straws for all @USHGNYC restaurants in next weeks. https://t.co/vjKZJQEBmU

— Danny Meyer (@dhmeyer) May 15, 2018

Several other restaurant chains, and some entire cities, are considering bans on plastic straws. Both McDonalds and Starbucks plan to eliminate them in the U.K., and may do the same in the U.S. An estimated 500 million one-use plastic straws are used each day in the United States.