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History of Straws: From Natural Reeds to Modern Debate

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History of Straws: From Natural Reeds to Modern Debate

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Let's dive into how straws evolved from simple reeds to today's hot environmental topic. Did you know that the first modern drinking straw was patented in 1888? This article gives us the fascinating timeline of how straws became part of our daily lives and why they're now at the center of environmental discussions.

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What Happens to Straws After We Throw Them Away?

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What Happens to Straws After We Throw Them Away?

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Ever wondered where your straw goes after you toss it? This kid-friendly article explains the journey of both plastic and paper straws through our waste management system. Spoiler alert: plastic straws can take up to 200 years to decompose! 🌍

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What Is the Plastic Straw Ban? Dynamic Earth Learning Video

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Heads up, future environmentalists! This piece breaks down why straws have become such a big deal in environmental discussions. With Americans using about 500 million straws DAILY (wow!), we'll explore how these small tubes became a symbol of our larger plastic problem.

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Ocean Life: Why Sea Turtles Thank You for Skipping Plastic Straws

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Ocean Life: Why Sea Turtles Thank You for Skipping Plastic Straws

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Class, this heartwarming article shows how switching from plastic straws can help protect marine life! The piece includes real stories of sea creatures affected by plastic pollution and how paper straws can make a difference. Remember our discussion about pathos in argumentative writing? This is a perfect example! 🐢

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Sea Turtle with Straw up its Nostril - "NO" TO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC

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Paper Straws: A Step Toward a Cleaner Planet

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Paper Straws: A Step Toward a Cleaner Planet

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Check out these amazing stats about paper straws! They decompose in just 2-6 weeks (compare that to plastic's 200 years!). This article explains how paper straws are made and why they're considered more eco-friendly. Great source for those logos appeals we talked about!

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Beyond the Binary: Creative Solutions to the Straw Debate

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Beyond the Binary: Creative Solutions to the Straw Debate

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Class, check this out! This balanced article explores innovative solutions like 'straws on request' policies and new biodegradable materials. Perfect for understanding how complex issues often have multiple solutions! 🤔

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Eco friendly straws | How to make the best plastic straw alternative | Lepironia x Grey Sedge

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Here's some food for thought! While straws are important, this article puts them in context of overall plastic pollution. Great for understanding how this debate fits into larger environmental discussions. Remember: perspective matters!

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Finding Middle Ground: Compromise Solutions

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Finding Middle Ground: Compromise Solutions

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Love this article for showing how different groups are working together! Restaurants offering multiple options, new straw designs that work for everyone - it's all about finding balance. Perfect example of synthesis in argument writing! 🤝

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Do plastic straws really make a difference?

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LEAPE: There are two clear imperatives. The first is to invest in better waste collection in the handful of countries that account for most of the plastic flowing into the ocean. The second, more fundamental imperative is to get plastics out of our waste stream.

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Why are straws harmful for the environment? Straws and other plastics pose a threat to plants and animals because they are not biodegradable - meaning they cannot be broken down naturally. As a result, they accumulate in ecosystems and habitats around the world, where they will remain for hundreds of years to come. Learn more about how straws impact the environment and what steps can be taken to prevent plastic pollution.

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By Julianne Waite

Several years ago, a gut-wrenching video of a sea turtle having a plastic straw removed from its nose went viral. For many viewers, that painful video was their wake up call to the global issue of plastic pollution.

In the years since, awareness about the plastic pollution crisis has grown exponentially and a number of cities, towns, states, and countries around the world have enacted laws to limit plastic straws and other single-use foodware.

Interestingly, plastic straws did not become Public Enemy No. 1 because they are the most common type of plastic found in the ocean. In fact, studies suggest that plastic straws make up less than 0.025% of ocean plastic.

According to PPC project The Last Plastic Straw, plastic straws emerged as the front runner for the anti-plastic pollution movement because of what they represent: the epitome of unnecessary single-use plastic pollution for most people.

Plastic straws are designed to only be used one time for a convenient few minutes and then discarded to pollute our planet for centuries to come. And while there are certainly some individuals who do need a plastic straw, the vast majority of the world's population does not.

And this is how plastic straws became the poster child of the anti-plastic pollution movement. If people can understand why plastic straws are unnecessary environmental hazard, it is an easy next step to see that the same is true of plastic bags and plastic water bottles and plastic cutlery and so on.

This is why we consider plastic straws to be the gateway plastic--they are the single-use item that opens up people's awareness to the larger problem of plastic.

Now, perhaps you are totally on board with eliminating single-use plastic straws but you still need or prefer to enjoy your beverages with a straw. Well, we've got you covered! We compiled this Skip The (Plastic) Straw Day list featuring Plastic Pollution Coalition members.

Also, use this free download of a card that you can leave on the table at your favorite eatery to encourage them to stop offering plastic straws at their business.
Metal Straws
Metal straws are an excellent alternative to plastic straws. Why are metal straws so great? They are:

The most common type of metal straws available are made of stainless steel, however other types of metal straws are available as well, such as copper straws. Here are some of the metal straws our Coalition members offer:

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30 Alternatives to Plastic Straws to Skip Single-Use Plastic - Plastic Pollution Coalition

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By Julianne Waite Several years ago, a gut-wrenching video of a sea turtle having a plastic straw removed from its nose went viral. For many viewers, that painful video was their wake up call to the global issue of plastic pollution.

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Explore the pros and cons of plastic straws in our insightful guide. Make informed choices for a sustainable future. Learn more now!

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Plastic straws retreat in 2018, but much more is needed to clean the oceans

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Starbucks and others moved to ban plastic straws, but much more needs to be done to slow the tide of plastic fouling oceans and corrupting the food chain.

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It seems to be the summer of plastic bans. Starbucks, Hyatt, the city of Seattle and others have all committed to phase out plastic straws. Stafford Township in New Jersey passed a plastic bag ban just last month, joining dozens of other American cities and states imposing taxes or bans on single-use plastics.

But is this a good thing?

Not if that's all we do.

The Case for Banning Plastic

Use of single-use plastics (think wrappers, straws and bags) has skyrocketed over the last few decades. But as I explained recently, our ability to recycle these plastics at scale remains poor. Globally, 8 million metric tons of plastic trash leak into our natural spaces each year, harming wildlife, mucking up the ocean and jeopardizing people's livelihoods.

So it's understandable why bans are becoming popular. The beaches of New Jersey, for example, bring in billions of tourism dollars each year, creating jobs and funding local municipal needs. These sprawling, sandy spaces and the busy boardwalks that line them are an important part of local life. There are clear personal and economic incentives to keep these beaches clean, which make plastic bans politically palatable despite the inconvenience.

Monmouth County, New Jersey, which earned nearly $2.5 billion in tourism revenue in 2016, adopted what Clean Ocean Action called the most comprehensive plastic ban in the United States. The law was passed in May 2018, just before the start of beach season, and prohibits local businesses from distributing plastic bags, straws and Styrofoam containers. Local coverage of the ban indicates that it was well-received by residents and business owners. Monmouth Beach Mayor Sue Howard explained that, "If you live on the Shore, and you walk on the beach, and you see plastic straws and Styrofoam containers, you know what the damage is."

Where Plastic Bans Fall Short

It's encouraging that local governments are focusing on passing laws to fight plastic litter. Unfortunately, while these laws may reduce the most visible form of plastic pollution, it could be at the expense of other environmental impacts. That's because, somewhat ironically, disposable plastic bags require fewer resources (land, water, CO ₂ emissions, etc.) to produce than paper, cotton or reusable plastic bags-by a wide margin.

For example, Denmark's Ministry of Environment and Food found that you would need to reuse a paper bag at least 43 times for its per-use environmental impacts to be equal to or less than that of a typical disposable plastic bag used one time. An organic cotton bag must be reused 20,000 times to produce less of an environmental impact than a single-use plastic bag. That would be like using a cotton bag every day for nearly 55 years. (Note that these figures aggregate the bags' impact on water use, CO ₂ emissions, land use and more, but they do not include their impact on plastic pollution.)

Banning plastic straws is also increasingly popular. Starbucks recently announced that it would phase out use of plastic straws by the year 2020. Straws don't provide as much utility as bags, so for many this is an easy adjustment.

But these bans leave the impression that they solve the plastics pollution problem without much discussion of  systematic  solutions. As a society, we should think holistically about the products we use and their impacts. We can't just ban bad products-we must invest in alternatives.

How Consumers, Governments and Businesses Can Beat Plastic Pollution

That same Danish study suggests that the most eco-friendly bag option for consumers is polyester, reused at least 35 times. This keeps plastic pollution out of our natural spaces and reduces the per-use environmental impacts of the bag to the lowest-possible levels. However, it will take a lot more than reusable bags to solve the plastics pollution problem. Right now, only about 9 percent of plastics are recycled globally.

As of January 1, China refused to import most recyclable materials from the United States and other developed countries, claiming the materials exceeded acceptable contamination levels. This has backed up the flow of disposed paper and plastic, causing serious problems for local waste management companies. However, there may be an ironic upside to China's decision. For too long, the easy option of shipping excess recyclables to China has resulted in underinvestment in in optimizing plastics, maximizing their recovery and reducing waste.

Governments at the state and federal levels need to team up with private industry to address more systemic issues. We need to invest in redesigning plastics so that they can be readily broken down into their molecular units and remanufactured into new plastics of the same quality, the essence of a closed loop system. We need better recycling technology that can address the major obstacle of recycling plastics: about 25 percent of plastics collected are contaminated and therefore unusable. We need to reinvest government budgets in the infrastructure and associated policies needed for these systemic solutions. Once these technologies are deployed at a large scale, we can start recapturing the economic value of plastics, incentivizing their recovery and recycling, while minimizing plastic pollution and overconsumption of natural resources.

We need a wider array of smart public policies, a recycling infrastructure that's right-sized for the problem, better recycling technology and new business models. Banning single-use plastic bags and straws without significant further action is putting a finger on a spigot at a time when we need to suppress the tidal wave.

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Banning Straws and Bags Won't Solve our Plastic Problem

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It seems to be the summer of plastic bans. Starbucks, Hyatt, the city of Seattle and others have all committed to phase out plastic straws. Stafford Township in New Jersey passed a plastic bag ban just last month, joining dozens of other American cities and states imposing taxes or bans on single-use plastics.