We have a lot of other things that are unnecessarily wrapped in plastics.
I hate to open a big and thick plastic box that houses a tiny thing. I have to use the scissors to cut it all the time. Walmart, Best Buy, Target hang a lot of big plastic boxes for small merchandises on the shelves. A 2-inch long USB stick is usually packed in a 6x8 inch thick plastic box.
China no longer buys plastic trash to protect its environment:
My other pet peeve is junk mail. How does one stop the never ending flow of unwanted junk mail? I think about what comes in our mailbox daily and multiply that by the households in the country and it is an outstanding waste. Most of my mail goes directly from the mailbox into the recycling bin but I’m sure not everyone does recycle and even if they do it would be better off not existing in the first place.
So what is wrong with food grade silicone? As someone who had a misfortune of having a thin chard of glass taken out of her flesh, I say never ever try glass straws. Not worth it. Having a rigid, thin, pokey metal object next to your eyes, back of the throat, etc. is never a good thing. While the probability of an accident is very tiny, the magnitude of damage can be huge.
We have all sorts of alternative straws. When we buy them we get the paper ones (usually get them at the dollar section in Target in cute patterns.)
We thought about the stainless straws but my kids hate the feel of metal in their mouth - they don’t even like to use the Yeti cups - so those were out. We did find some silicone reusable straws at Target the other day and the kids really like them. They were by the baby cups and silverware if anyone looks for them. These aren’t the exact ones - ours were all different lengths, but they are similar. @MomofWildChild this might work for you.
When we moved into our current house about 5 years ago I found two small boxes way up in a high kitchen cabinet. There were two glass straws - I thought it was the craziest idea ever! We never used them but I never threw them out either. One day we were talking about not using so many straws and I remembered the glass - my kids were older now so I pulled them out of the cabinet. Turns out they are very sturdy, not thin glass at all, and we like them. They are big enough that you can drink a smoothie with them but not as giant as a milkshake straw. I have dropped them and put them in the dishwasher and there are no chips.
For those that like the metal straws and want to carry one around I recently saw this - a collapsible straw that goes on your keychain!
^^ thanks! I can see how the solid straws could be a problem in the car if you had a sudden stop or something, but I think I’m probably OK in a restaurant (unless we are talking alcoholic beverages and falling off a stool…).
Starbucks announced it will stop offering plastic straws by 2020. The company will offer straws made with biodegradable materials like paper and will also offer specially designed lids.
Under the heading of ‘one needs to find humor where one can’…I laugh to myself each time the local Target, Kmart, grocery store or home improvement stores asks me if I’d like to purchase a bag. Sometimes I need one. I pay the .10-.25 cent fee to 'save the environment. The final thing stuck in this environmentally destructive bag is…a 3 foot long register tape with requests for surveys, coupons for stuff I don’t need, ads for upcoming promotions, blurbs on why I should join the loyalty program or get one of their credit cards and other info I don’t need or want. Oh, and somewhere on the three foot ribbon is the actual data on what I purchased.
How many straws could one use if one could somehow figure out how to not have the 3 foot register tape generated and stuff in the bag?
Yup, good thing I usually don’t need a bag…hmmm…I could probably wrap my purchases in the register tape.
Increasingly, I’ve had businesses ask if I want a receipt or if I want the receipt emailed or texted to me. Most seem to be small businesses plus Whole Foods.
One grocery store chain in my area prints receipts on both sides so they are shorter.
But at least paper is biodegradable unlike the plastic straws.
Disabled people who need straws and cannot lift cups should be able to get them. A column in the Washington Post charged that the needs of the disabled were not even considered in banning plastic straws.
