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The article notes that "Single-use plastic items such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks or cotton buds, will be banned in the EU under plans adopted on
by dwheeler 7y ago
The article notes that "Single-use plastic items such as plates, cutlery, straws, balloon sticks or cotton buds, will be banned in the EU under plans adopted on Wednesday...." because "These products... make up over 70% of marine litter".
Being 70% of marine litter is a good argument that there's a problem to be fixed, but banning something only makes sense if there are reasonable alternatives or that doing without is acceptable. Plates and cutlery of single-use plastic have obvious alternatives. Straws are more complicated; here's one list discussing the alternatives: https://earth911.com/food/straw-alternatives/ https://earth911.com/food/straw-alternatives/ It wasn't clear to me that the impacts of this proposal were considered in detail; I hope the impacts were considered!
- esotericn 7y agoSurely 'no straw' is an obvious alternative to straw? In a generic sense, 'no X' should always be the first option if plausible. If your car could run without fuel, we wouldn't need alternative fuels!
- sleavey 7y agoTell that to McDonalds' customers who will refuse to "eat" their milkshakes without a straw. I do agree we should stop using these single use plastics, especially for junk from McDonald's, but in this instance you can't just tell people to stop using them in all circumstances.
- tinus_hn 7y agoI’m sure the customers will eat milkshakes without a straw when the choices are eating it without a straw and throwing it away. You don’t need to tell people to stop using straws. You just stop giving them straws. Realistically though the plastic straws will be replaced by a slightly more expensive, biodegradable alternative.
- myrion 7y agoNot for a lot of disabled people. There are many reasons why a straw might be necessary.
- krageon 7y agoPeople who are disabled don't need disposable straws, because they'll always need one.