Eric Brass, founder of Tequila Tromba, was troubled by the 1.5 million tons of agave waste that resulted from tequila making. The agave plants were either burned or dumped into landfills. Meanwhile, restaurants had a straw problem—choose between environmentally harmful plastics or paper straws that quickly turned soggy in a drink. Brass put two and two together and came up with the idea of making compostable straws out of agave fiber. It took some trial and error to perfect the formula, but after partnering with a manufacturer and pitching the idea to Sysco’s Cutting Edge Solutions, his second business, The Sustainable Agave Company, now distributes the straws for foodservice.