Freshly squeezed and environmentally savvy, lemonade stands at the 2018 Whoop-Up Days festival are reducing their carbon footprint.
“We just produce a lot of lemonades throughout one day, and so if everyone is throwing those away, that creates a big waste,” said Family Squeezed Lemonade employee Mckenna Kwasney.
Family Squeezed Lemonade and Johnny’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade both use biodegradable cups, lids and straws.
“When we first started thinking about opening up a lemonade stand, we were having a very hard time rationalizing selling a lemonade for four or five or six dollars and then putting it into a cup that was going to be in a landfill somewhere for 40 or 50 or 75 years,” said Dwain Lowe, an employee with Johnny’s Fresh Squeezed Lemonade.
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The lemonade containers and straws are all corn by-products, which biodegrade faster than their plastic counterparts.
The two lemonade businesses at the grounds are pioneers for sustainability.
“We started doing this back in about 2012,” Lowe said.
“Along with our fruit, we’re able to compost everything that we give out of our truck,” Kwasney said.
But what about others on the midway?
“It’s starting to take off a little bit, but not the way it should be,” Lowe said. “There still could be a lot more of this type of product available in the market place.”
Both business hope others will follow in their footsteps, helping to squeeze out more unnecessary waste.