Hey everyone! My last post focused on plastic bags, and today I want to focus on plastic straws. Yes, a lot of their negative effects are the same, but they are also different. In addition, I want to go through some new articles which recently came out about a strawless future!

Straws. We all use them. There are 7.6 billion people on this planet. Think about each one of those people using a plastic straw just today. That’s billions of plastic straws being used in a single day. Where do they all go? Sadly, most end up in our local water ways.  99% of straws in the world are plastic. The other 1% are made of metal, paper, and glass.

What’s Wrong with Plastic Straws?

To start, plastic straws are not recyclable. When I first learned this I was shocked. My whole life I learned to recycle plastic, and then I was told “yes this straw is plastic, but no you can’t recycle it.” Plastic straws are made from polypropylene, which is a fossil fuel and takes tons of energy to extract. Polypropylene is normally recyclable, just not in such a small size such as straws. When plastic is sent to recycling plants, all of the material goes through a conveyer belt. Sadly, the straws are small and normally fall through the cracks, thus sending them to landfills.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that straws were one of the top 5 most commonly found plastic products in the ocean. Go back to the scenario of everyone on the planet using just one straw day. That was billions of straws in one day, so the idea that straws are so commonly found is not surprising at all.

Plastic straws get caught in the airways and nostrils of marine and terrestrial animals. Similar to plastic bags, these animals will also eat the straws, thus filling up their stomachs and leading to their decease. If you have not seen it already, almost two years ago a heart breaking video of a straw stuck in s sea turtle’s nostril was released. This revealed the sad truth of plastic pollution.

News

I am assuming most of us heard, but Starbucks has announced that they will be going strawless by 2020! This is great news. Want to know something even better? Tons of restaurants and towns have begun getting straws as well. For instance, 3 years ago (yes 3) Miami Beach, Florida banned straws on the beach. This doesn’t just mean you can’t bring straws down on the sand, this included all restaurants and hotels near any beach! This was a huge milestone for plastic reduction. And this is just one example.

What Can You Do?

Alright guys so this goes along with Challenge #3: do not use plastic straws! When you go out to eat, if a waiter/ waitress hands you straw just tell them you don’t need it.

Do you still love straws though? That’s okay, I do too! No need to worry. There are tons of alternatives you can by. Check out these: stainless steel straws and  paper straws.

In addition, check out all of these alternatives to plastic straws which you can easily buy!