For the past year, I’ve been a baggie carrying straw hater.
Yup, you heard that right.
A straw hater. Bendy…. Straight… Curly-cued…. They are all the same.
I may be a straw snob, but I refuse to use a straw that isn’t made from paper.
Many people are banding together to make this pledge. Hashtags like #stopsucking and The Last Plastic Straw are appearing in hopes of educating the public. Even though I’ve been doing this for over a year, I didn’t realize the magnitude these little critters have on the world. The last Plastic Straw states, “500 million straws are used and discarded in the US every day.” So multiply that by 365 days and you get the picture. And straws aren’t the only ones doing the damage. Image what our
actual total consumption of plastic is….. Another story for another day. I don’t want to be the cause of your nightmares.
The worst part of this story is that even though you dump that plastic tube into the trash can, it doesn’t always make it to the landfill. A lot of those beasts are showing up in valuable ecosystems like our oceans. Plastic doesn’t degrade over time either, it just keeps getting smaller until it ends up as tiny modules which appear on our beaches. I’ve seen the photos from beach cleanups, ones done to collect these tiny specs, and it’s impressive how much they end up collecting. Even if the item says recyclable, how much as a society are recycling correctly? And when was the last time you saw a recycle symbol on a straw?
So for the past year, I’ve tried my best to cut down on straws, instead opting for the nice and biodegradable paper version.
Ok, so I messed up a lot at first. Don’t hate yourself for that. Even today, I’ll absentmindedly grab the straw handed to me not realizing what I’ve done till it was firmly in my drink cup. In the beginning, I would forget about my bursting baggie of paper goodness in my purse. Or, many times, restaurants would deliver my drink already strawed. I hate to add more waste by replacing a straw that is already in use. The first step in all of this was learning which places delivered strawed and making sure they knew I wasn’t wanting that delightful service.
You could suggest that we go straw free completely, but some places I would never place my lips on that glass. And what about those iced drinks at Starbucks? Don’t tell me you are willing to drink that full cup, top free in a moving car? Hence my paper straw carrying status.
I remember the first time I pulled the now very common baggie out of my purse for the first time in front of my friends. The stares. It was just too much fun. I was ecstatic. Here I could help to educate others about the importance of letting go of straws, or I should say the plastic ones, and now I immediately ask my friends if they too would love one.
So I wanted to share this story with you to show that even the small things matter. Cutting the use of straws alone will make a difference. And if we can change the mindset on this one thing, image what else we can do.
Last note with all of this. While searching for your new paper straw buddy, know that not all brands are the same. Don’t get discouraged if the first ones you pick up don’t hold up to the task. I’ve had straws that last through a solid meal and others that start to dissolve the minute they hit liquid. Give a few different ones a try and have fun carrying around your own baggie full of straws.
Love Kait