Plastics Purge Part II: Sip Sustainably and Say No to Single-Use Plastic Straws!

Welcome to Part II of Greener Living’s Plastics Purge series. If you missed Part I on eliminating single use plastic bags, be sure to check that out here.

As with disposable plastic bags, single-use, disposable plastic straws are a seemingly benign product of plastic’s ubiquity and versatility. However, just like plastic bags, this seemingly minor and easily overlooked plastic product is unnecessary and has negative environmental ramifications.

Single-use plastic straws are typically made from polypropylene plastic and do not biodegrade in the environment. Once disposed of, these straws contribute to both macroplastic pollution (the straws themselves) and, more alarmingly, microplastic pollution resulting from the breakdown of larger plastics in the environment from exposure to sunlight and ocean waves.

Plastic straws, unlike some other plastic products, are not recyclable. They are too lightweight to make it through mechanical recycling sorters and therefore drop through sorting screens where they either contaminate the recycling stream or are disposed of as garbage.

The facts and figures surrounding plastic straw waste is a contested topic, with some outlets reporting that in the US alone, 500 million drinking straws are used and thrown away every day, while other sources note that plastic straws make up just 0.025% of the 8 million tons of plastic that enter our oceans annually. That’s 2,000 pounds of plastic pollution attributed directly to straw waste each year. Eliminating single-use disposable straws certainly won't be a cure-all to plastic pollution, but it is a good place to start.

Although the extent of their impact is debated, the fact of the matter is that plastic straws are an unnecessary source of waste that should be eliminated. It is this fact that has brought plastic straws to the forefront of many plastic pollution campaigns resulting in a series of plastic straw bans in cities and businesses across the globe. Seattle banned plastic straws and plastic utensils in July. California has issued a state-wide restriction on single-use plastic straws, requiring patrons at restaurants to ask for a straw rather than automatically receiving one. Starbucks has announced a plan to eliminate plastic straws globally by 2020, with similar policies being enacted in companies, cities, and countries all over the world.

However, we don’t need to wait for our cities, restaurants, and states to ban straws before taking action.You can act to combat this issue today by refusing to use plastic straws. Go without straws and lids when getting soft drinks to-go. Be sure to ask for your drinks at restaurants WITHOUT a straw. Or, if you like using straws, consider investing in an alternative to single-use plastic straws, such as straws made from paper, metal, bamboo, or glass.

In my self-designated role of Environmentalist-At-Large in my family, I took the step of gifting everyone a Final Straw, touted as being the world’s most bad-ass straw, and I’d say they live up to the hype. These straws are comfortable and fun to use, easy to transport, and they come with their own carrying case, drying rack, and a cleaning squeegee. The cases come in great colors and can attach to your keys, so you’ll never be caught out without your straw!

Says Final Straw-user (and my mother), Nancy: “I like it. It’s easy to clean. Very sturdy. And I can stick it in my pocket when I am done with it so I can bring it places.”

I also was gifted a set of reusable silicone straws from my Aunt (shout out to my Aunt Dawn who not only got me those straws, but also started composting at home and is fighting for her town to ban single-use plastic bags! Go Aunt Dawn!).

Both my Final Straw and my silicone straw are enjoyable to use, easy to transport in a bag, purse, or on key chains, and offer a way for folks to sip sustainably.

Of course, if you do find yourself out without your straw, or if you simply have no desire to spend money on a reusable one, you can always drink your beverages without a straw.

I’ll admit from experience that it can be tricky to remember to ask for your drink without a straw when eating out. I’ve been guilty of forgetting, and then what’s the point? The straw is already there. Already wasted. However, I can also tell you from experience that the post-refusal high and the satisfaction of enjoying your beverage knowing you’ve opted out of a wasteful and unsustainable practice makes it easier to remember to ask for no straw the next time around.

Whether you’ve been implementing these greener living practices from the start or you’re just now looking to do away with unnecessary waste in your everyday life and adopt more environmentally friendly practices, eliminating single-use plastic straws is a great first or continuing step.

Seriously, there is perhaps no form of waste so superfluous and unnecessary as the plastic straw. There is simply no reason for them to exist. If you do need or prefer a straw to drink with, there are plenty of non-disposable alternatives that can offer you all of the imagined or actual benefits and conveniences of drinking through straws.

So, please, let’s all come to the consensus that plastic straws suck! And we don’t need them. If you agree and you’d like to continue or start eliminating plastic straw waste in your everyday life, consider taking the OneLessStraw pledge started by enterprising teenage environmentalists Carter and Olivia Reis.

For anyone who is a regular reader (if those exist?), I apologize for my recent hiatus. My life was briefly and intensely consumed by frenzied preparations for my 3-month solo sojourn, on which I have just embarked.

This post comes to you from a remote, off-grid (yet wi-fi equipped) sustainable farm on the island of Puerto Rico. There are more Plastics Purge posts still to come, but in the meantime I may allow my current travels and experiences to influence my weekly topics, so stay tuned for a whole bunch of good stuff still to come!

Until later,
  Sam