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Why are paper straws the wrong solution? Even if they take a little more energy to produce they at least don't leave long-term waste behind.
by proaralyst 7y ago
Why are paper straws the wrong solution? Even if they take a little more energy to produce they at least don't leave long-term waste behind.
- acdanger 7y agoThere was a video on YouTube of a sea turtle with a straw lodged in its nose. I believe that was the spark the set off the straw-less movement.
- allannienhuis 7y agoWhat does that have to do with the question? Using paper straws would address the type of problem you mentioned, as they're (too) quickly bio-degradable. They may not be the right direction to go in (why do we use so many straws in the first place?), but they do solve that type of impact to marine animals.
- black6 7y agoAt least plastic straws are multi-use. It's rare that a paper straw makes it through a single drink.
- omnimus 7y agoSame goes for plastic straw. Except maybe home use which is not very common.
- fredophile 7y agoWhen was the last time you saw someone re-use a plastic straw?
- black6 7y agoLast night the waiter topped off my iced tea three times and I continued to use the same plastic straw, whereas a single paper straw would not have lasted. It's a wetted time and solubility problem. Paper is water soluble--plastic is not.
- fredophile 7y agoI've used bad paper straws that didn't last through a single glass but any I've used in the last year has been much more robust. A better question than paper or plastic would be to ask why your iced tea needed a straw at all.
- agent008t 7y agoDoesn't paper production require trees to be cut down?
- undersuit 7y agoMake them buy trees that have been grown just for paper(they definitely exist), no one's going to cut down old growth for paper... seriously that's prime high margin furniture material.
- groby_b 7y agoBecause they don't work for people with disabilities. They dissolve, they're more easily bent, they're less resistant to accidental biting. They disintegrate even faster with hot beverages.
- proaralyst 7y agoI've heard this argument before, and please forgive me if this is insensitive. Are people with disabilities eased by non-paper straws not able to supply their own? Perhaps steel ones that can be reused many times? I appreciate that allowances for disabilities must be made, but I can also understand that general popular use of plastic straws is harmful to the environment.
- JoeAltmaier 7y agoOk, then there's the rest of the objections. Add to this, plastic straws are a trifling fraction of plastic pollution, and the made-up furor distracts from actual important issues.