Restaurants dealing with stolen straws

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - With some restaurants looking to join the movement to eliminate single-use plastic straws, they are finding a new problem.  Customers are stealing the reusable metal straws.

"I think a pretty easy rule of thumb is:  The shinier, the less you're going to hold onto it," bar owner Will Wyatt says.

Wyatt opened Mister Paradise a month ago in the East Village of Manhattan.  He wanted his fancy cocktail bar to avoid contributing to the plastic pollution crisis.  He decided to buy non-disposable straws for his bartenders.

He purchased metal straws for his signature drink, the riot punch.  The drinks have been going fast, as well as the straws.

"We opened a month ago.  I bought 96 and I've got seven," Wyatt says.

Hunky Dory opened recently in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.  The eatery is focused on sustainability.  It's metal straw have also been disappearing fast.

And Candle 79 on the Upper East Side, which had been using metal straws, has had to switch to compostable ones.

"People steal anything that's not nailed down, including soap from the bathroom.  They've stolen out plant," Candle 79's Benay Vynerib says.

The restauranteurs do say the sticky finger will not steal their dedication to finding ways to be more sustainable.

Cities around the country have started to ban plastic straws, including Seattle, Miami and San Francisco.  New York City has considered a ban but a bill in city council has not passed yet.