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I'm sure someone probably feels strongly about this, but I will ask anyway: Do we as a society even need straws? I never use a straw at home. The only time I
by bsuvc 3y ago
I'm sure someone probably feels strongly about this, but I will ask anyway:
Do we as a society even need straws?
I never use a straw at home.
The only time I would consider wanting one would be for a milkshake maybe, due to its thickness making it hard to sip otherwise.
I am not anti-straw, just think it is sort of a weird thing for our society to use when I stop to think about it.
- kragen 3y agomostly they're important for people who are disabled with neurological issues or immune deficiency
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- guerrilla 3y agoYes, many disabled people need straws. Specifically soft ones, if they have movement disorders.
- bsuvc 3y agoGreat point. Now that you mention it, I did work with a person who had a condition that extremely affected his ability to move and yes, straw usage was essential for him.
- paulproteus 3y agoWhen people wear lipstick and are drinking something, a straw helps keep it on. If society's going to have lipstick and people go out, I think society sorta has to have straws! See e.g. https://stylecaster.com/beauty/makeup/468366/how-to-make-lipstick-last-through-eating/ https://stylecaster.com/beauty/makeup/468366/how-to-make-lip...
- bsuvc 3y agoAh makes sense. I didn't think about that scenario.
- aziaziazi 3y agoI can’t help asking weather do we as a society need lipstick ?
- woodruffw 3y agoWe have a lot of things that we don’t need. Abundance and option (rather than bare sustenance) are defining features and goals of a healthy society. That’s a long way of saying that there are a lot of things we don’t need, but that eliminating them makes relatively little sense. We should instead develop compensating systems based on those needs (such as disincentivizing single-use straws, and normalizing reusable ones in the ways that reusable bottles and bags have been normalized.)
- dvdhnt 3y ago> Abundance and option (rather than bare sustenance) are defining features and goals of a healthy society… Do you have a source for this claim? It’s not something I’ve read or heard in 36 years.
- woodruffw 3y agoI think that falls under conventional wisdom.
- aziaziazi 3y agoYou’re wrong, it falls under some minority belief. Even the president of France said last year “we’re living the end of abundance” and he’s a liberal productivist. Abundance is clearly at most a target of healthy minority within a non heathy society.
- LeoPanthera 3y agoWhen drinking particularly acid drinks, juice, soda, etc., a straw significantly reduces the amount of erosion of your teeth.
- sixstringtheory 3y agoI question if it actually does make a difference, and in any case, we should kill two birds with one stone and just not drink unhealthy drinks. “It’s so simple!” -Jim Gaffigan “Stop it!” -Bob Newhart
- irrational 3y agoLet’s just outlaw everything but tap water.
- sixstringtheory 3y agoYou don’t have to outlaw anything. Disincentivize it. “But then only the rich will get to rot their teeth out!” Good, I guess? So what? “Poor people will still spend money on sugar water! You’ll drive them deeper into poverty!” Then the price isn’t high enough yet. It needs to exceed the cost of the dental and medical work it will precipitate. Which by definition will price many poor people out of sugar water. Which it should.
- aziaziazi 3y agoNice approach, but IMHO outlawing would be easier and healthier for the society: Easier: track down illegal sugary drinks is easier that track down at what price a drink is illegally sold. Healthier: forbid those drinks and all the folks forking for that industry will now work for something more useful the the society instead of trying to find ways to convince people to drink their shitty fluid.
- sixstringtheory 3y agoYou don't have to know at what price the drinks are sold. All that matters as the government is that you know how much is being moved around. Then you charge each link in the chain appropriately. The rest works itself out in the market. I disagree with the legislative approach, but just think of how much cheap/free labor the war on drugs supplies. A war on sugar would keep those numbers up! Good job boys, promotions all around! In the more boring dystopia, the disincentivization would lead to poor quarterly financials and cause the same movement in the industry. Nobody is pumping out cola at a loss simply because it's their passion project.
- konschubert 3y agoI think they're fun, and kind of useful if drinking while the move.
- hinkley 3y agoIn theory it can reduce tooth decay. In practice it only does so when drinking high sugar, high acid beverages, and if memory serves drinking a glass of water afterward is about as effective.
- bilsbie 3y agoThey’re important when drinks have lids.
- jayd16 3y agoAre they? Lids can have spouts.
- spike021 3y agoMost of the current lids on fast food togo cups these days don't work with my lip shape. It sounds funny but drinking from them especially while driving does not work, the drink just leaks out the corners of my mouth.
- irrational 3y agoWhile driving, trying to drink from a spout puts more of the cup into your field of vision. It’s not as safe as a straw. The retort, of course, will be to not drink while driving. Sigh.
- newsclues 3y agoControl flow liquid and avoid spills with moving the glass. Very useful for children, old people and those with special needs. But also useful for things like sensitive teeth, avoiding consuming heavy solids in a drink, or to spit balls of tissue at teachers. Good for on the go consumption as they can move, and you can avoid hitting your mouth with a cup.
- wouldbecouldbe 3y agoGet some kids.
- bsuvc 3y agoGot one and sippy cup was the thing to use, but yeah straws were also helpful for a while after graduating from the sippy cup.
- wouldbecouldbe 3y agoanywhere you go, friends, bars, they will get their drinks with straws. You can take it away, but it's not set up for it.
- irrational 3y agoThe only time I find it useful is when I’m driving while drinking a side I got at the fast food place I stopped at. It’s pretty easy to drive while drinking out of a straw.
- tuhriel 3y agoThose cups in themselves are a pain. Why cant they just hand out PET bottles like you get everywhere else? (at least in europe) hand out a reusable sport cap aswell and you have a perfect bottle without the need of a) a straw b) a cup c) a lid
- xp84 3y agoA bottle uses way more plastic than our flimsy plastic lids do. Paper cups are mostly paper which comes from trees which are grown just because there’s a need for paper (big carbon win). It would be a massive step backward to use bottles instead of fountain drinks. Not to mention how much more expensive they are than a fountain drink. And there’s no way you could fill them efficiently from a fountain at the restaurant.
- Swizec 3y agoI need straws to deal with American ice servings. Almost impossible to drink without a straw. Of course you don’t need straws at home unless you have special needs, because your glass is full of drink not ice with a splash of drink.
- fortran77 3y agoYou'd feel differently if you had no arms.
- bsuvc 3y agoYes. Yes I would. It is clear there are some use cases where straw usage is a necessity. I do wonder if that should just be something people use when they need it. The analogy would be, some people use mobility scooters at the grocery store, but not everyone uses one, only the people who choose to them (presumably because they need it, but the point stands either way, need or want)
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- newaccount74 3y agoDo we need disposable straws? Some people need straws (kids, disabled people), but in most cases it's better to bring your own reusable straw to fill that need rather than relying on whatever straws they have at the place you are going to. My toddler for example will just chew up most types of straws (especially those disgusting paper straws). Bringing a stainless steel, a glass straw, or one of those cups with integrated straw is a much better alternative. People with movement disorders will probably want something more flexible, so I guess a reusable silicone straw is probably best. I don't think we need disposable straws.
- kwhitefoot 3y agoKids do not need straws.
- newaccount74 3y agoProbably not. But they like them.
- rufus_foreman 3y ago[flagged]
- dang 3y agoPlease don't post unsusbtantive and/or flamebait comments, no matter how wrong someone else is or you feel they are. We've had to warn you about this many times in the past. Fortunately it looks like you've been doing it less lately, but please don't go back to posting the other way. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- Shikadi 3y agoThe Starbucks lids are awesome, we should use them everywhere