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> I thought surely the delta of doing this is not even measurable. This is unfortunately the case for most ecological movements. Your paper straw is doing abso

> I thought surely the delta of doing this is not even measurable. This is unfortunately the case for most ecological movements. Your paper straw is doing absolutely nothing, but it's easier than doing the thing that would actually reduce your emissions...so people do it and feel good.

mihaic 3y ago
I don't know a single person that feels good about paper straws. Rather, I think it's done by legislators to fake doing something, ironically making the world worse than not doing anything at all.
- DoingIsLearning 3y ago
  Actually the original ban proposal in the EU was on single-use plastics. As in... all of them. Then the industry jumped on it, threw fudge online, lobbied it to death. In the end the actual proposal that was passed had so many exceptions it became just a ban on plastic straws, q-tips, and forks pretty much. Nestle, Coco-Cola, Unilever, P&G opened a bottle of champagne and refocused on their quarterly reports.
- saiya-jin 3y ago
  I'd agree with first sentence. But yeah its a low hanging fruit that's too low and its microscopic, so doesn't solve even 0.0001% of the overall problem. I think what irks most people is that its given disproportionate PR like we're almost fixing climate crisis, when we are actually still pretty much in free fall.
- newsclues 3y ago
  I don't know of a single person that feels good about cargo ships burning bunker fuel. But it seems like a small group of people is able to sway the policy. A few activists can make us all use paper straws, and a few rich shipping companies can prevent us all from switching to cleaner fuels for prime cargo movers. Why have democracies become tyrannies of minorities?
- yunwal 3y ago
  I'm pretty sure there's no legislation that mandates paper straws (I could be wrong here). Legislation bans straws made from non-decomposable single-use materials. There are much better materials than paper, that aren't even particularly expensive (compostable plastics). My suspicion is the paper straws were a product of the plastics industry to try and make it unpopular to pass environmental regulations.
- whywhywhywhy 3y ago
  My country started charging $0.12 for plastic bags at the store as an environmental push. In a few years its now $0.36. Not sure why the environmental push had to become a profit center, kind of feel we could have just switched the bags to paper and charged no one if it were truly about the environment.
OfSanguineFire 3y ago
Paper straws definitely have value as one part of McDonald's overall change (at least at locations near me) to make 100% of their packaging paper. Unless you order ketchup -- and this must be deliberately ordered -- that comes in a little plastic cup, 100% of what is left on your tray after eating is paper, which can then go straight into a segregated paper recycling chain.

mihaic 3y ago

I don't know a single person that feels good about paper straws. Rather, I think it's done by legislators to fake doing something, ironically making the world worse than not doing anything at all.

DoingIsLearning 3y ago
Actually the original ban proposal in the EU was on single-use plastics. As in... all of them. Then the industry jumped on it, threw fudge online, lobbied it to death. In the end the actual proposal that was passed had so many exceptions it became just a ban on plastic straws, q-tips, and forks pretty much. Nestle, Coco-Cola, Unilever, P&G opened a bottle of champagne and refocused on their quarterly reports.
saiya-jin 3y ago
I'd agree with first sentence. But yeah its a low hanging fruit that's too low and its microscopic, so doesn't solve even 0.0001% of the overall problem. I think what irks most people is that its given disproportionate PR like we're almost fixing climate crisis, when we are actually still pretty much in free fall.
newsclues 3y ago
I don't know of a single person that feels good about cargo ships burning bunker fuel. But it seems like a small group of people is able to sway the policy. A few activists can make us all use paper straws, and a few rich shipping companies can prevent us all from switching to cleaner fuels for prime cargo movers. Why have democracies become tyrannies of minorities?
yunwal 3y ago
I'm pretty sure there's no legislation that mandates paper straws (I could be wrong here). Legislation bans straws made from non-decomposable single-use materials. There are much better materials than paper, that aren't even particularly expensive (compostable plastics). My suspicion is the paper straws were a product of the plastics industry to try and make it unpopular to pass environmental regulations.
whywhywhywhy 3y ago
My country started charging $0.12 for plastic bags at the store as an environmental push. In a few years its now $0.36. Not sure why the environmental push had to become a profit center, kind of feel we could have just switched the bags to paper and charged no one if it were truly about the environment.

OfSanguineFire 3y ago

Paper straws definitely have value as one part of McDonald's overall change (at least at locations near me) to make 100% of their packaging paper. Unless you order ketchup -- and this must be deliberately ordered -- that comes in a little plastic cup, 100% of what is left on your tray after eating is paper, which can then go straight into a segregated paper recycling chain.