5 ms·

> Everybody makes fun of paper straws. Yeah, because they suck. Uh, pun not intended. Paper straws get somewhat soggy and feel bad in your mouth. They are infe

by bigstrat2003 10mo ago

> Everybody makes fun of paper straws. Yeah, because they suck. Uh, pun not intended. Paper straws get somewhat soggy and feel bad in your mouth. They are inferior to the plastic straws they purport to replace, so people resist them as much as they can. If you want to actually make a difference with an environmental effort, you need to make something superior. Nobody makes fun of LED light bulbs because (up front cost aside) they are wildly superior to incandescent. People actually like having LED bulbs and seek them out. The same cannot be said, and likely never will be said, of paper straws.

jquery 10mo ago
I'm convinced paper straws are a psy-op by the plastics industry to make us hate environmentalists.
- hexbin010 10mo ago
  Or 4D chess by the environmentalists so we go without straws entirely Classic replacement of something good with something terrible so customers opt out
- Am4TIfIsER0ppos 10mo ago
  No it's to punish us when it isn't us causing the alleged plastic problem. When the orders went out all the western media took holidays to the far east to film garbage filled rivers in india, the philippines, indonesia. Your disposable plastic straw wasn't ending up there. Your plastic bottle might have been but that's only because of the recycling scam. It should have been burned like the oil it is.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
piyushpr134 10mo ago
paper straws do not make any sense any way you look at it. Are we saying that we are okay to cut trees to make straws when we could make them out of petroleum ? Moreover, paper straws are not even recyclable due to water content which makes them soggy. Plastic ones are almost 100% recyclable Most importantly, unlike plastic straws, they are laced with glue and other chemicals which gets ingested.
- injidup 10mo ago
  Soggy is not a problem.Recycling paper involves wetting it to loose the fibres and then reforming it. It's how paper is made.
  - ulrikrasmussen 10mo ago
    But usually paper and cardboard that has been in contact with food is not recyclable because it contaminates the batch. That's why pizza boxes also cannot go into the cardboard/paper fraction.
    - vanviegen 10mo ago
      No, that's because pizza boxes are contaminated with fat. That messes up the paper recycling process. Water is fine.
      - GCUMstlyHarmls 10mo ago
        Man, if that's the problem then I can only assume any fast food box is not recyclable too?
        teiferer 10mo ago
        The point of paper fast food boxes is not to recycle them but to have no trash in the end as they just burn or rot, all in a sustainable way. In contrast to plastic.
  - bluescrn 10mo ago
    > Soggy is not a problem. It is when you're trying to suck a thick milkshake through one, though...
- vanviegen 10mo ago
  > Are we saying that we are okay to cut trees to make straws when we could make them out of petroleum ? Uhh.. yes? Trees can be grown, just like any agriculture product. > Plastic ones are almost 100% recyclable In theory. However that rarely works out in practice, due to the complications of mixing various types of plastic in a single stream of garbage. > Most importantly, unlike plastic straws, they are laced with glue and other chemicals which gets ingested. The glue for paper straws will be a biodegradable water-based adhesive. It may be finished with natural wax. And that's it. I think you are intentionally spreading FUD saying glue and chemicals. That being said, I hate paper straws. I like bamboo straws though.
repeekad 10mo ago
Most paper straws use PFAS, meaning we’re actively composting PFAS in a fantasy effort to feel good about our waste without actually giving anything up https://fortune.com/well/2023/08/24/paper-straws-harmful-forever-chemicals-plastic-straws/ https://fortune.com/well/2023/08/24/paper-straws-harmful-for...
- qmr 10mo ago
  Thanks just the dystopian news I needed today. What a stupid joke.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
philipwhiuk 10mo ago
> Nobody makes fun of LED light bulbs because (up front cost aside) they are wildly superior to incandescent There was huge resistance to wiping out the inefficient bulbs in the UK. Many many people stockpiled them.
- HWR_14 10mo ago
  At switching time, the affordable option was compact fluorescents. Which did suck.
simgt 10mo ago
Good that they suck, people might realize that they may as well refuse the straw, drink from the glass and that their life is exactly as comfortable as before the ban.
- deleted 10mo ago
  [deleted]
woadwarrior01 10mo ago
> Nobody makes fun of LED light bulbs because (up front cost aside) they are wildly superior to incandescent. There's burgeoning movement called "PWM sensitive"[1] that's opposed to (cheap) LED lights. [1]: https://old.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/ https://old.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/
- Liftyee 10mo ago
  The frequencies that they claim affect them are disputable but the flickering in some cheap LED lights is real. Badly/cheaply designed electronics can have flicker as bad as 50 Hz if they use half bridge diode rectification only (e.g. that time I was passing through Geneva airport and the Christmas lights flickered in my peripheral vision)
  - evandrofisico 10mo ago
    yep, i had one led stripe with a controller with a flickering that was kinda invisible to the eye, but very noticeable on camera.
triceratops 10mo ago
I don't understand the moaning and bellyaching about straws. Are people that bad at drinking from cups? If you aren't a toddler or bed-ridden patient in a hospital (EDIT: or anyone else with physical conditions that necessitate a straw) you should be able to drink without a straw.
- remove-resolve 10mo ago
  Mouth cancer. I can live a normal life EXCEPT I can't allow liquids to touch my lips. Without straws I have to go through agony just to be minimally hydrated. Paper straws get stuck to my necrotic flesh and tear it off. There are a variety of conditions that straws are helpful for. A lot of people have health issues that make it difficult to swallow. A lot of people have mouth and lip conditions. What I don't understand is all the moaning and groaning about the smallest piece of plastic that helps a LOT of disabled people have a semblance of normalcy, when here are much larger plastic fish to fry. We use plastic for basically everything but people have tunnel visioned on a minor piece that actually helps people. It's myopic.
  - triceratops 10mo ago
    I thought "bed-ridden patient" covered everyone who is physically unable to drink without straws due to disabilities or other conditions. I guess that wasn't clear enough though. My apologies. I've edited my comment now. > What I don't understand is all the moaning and groaning about the smallest piece of plastic that helps a LOT of disabled people have a semblance of normalcy You have to admit it's been turned into a culture war point by people who mostly don't need straws. They just need boogeymen to rile up people against environmentalism in general.
- pixl97 10mo ago
  >Are people that bad at drinking from cups? You ever had the ice in the bottom of the cup turn into a large chunk then hit you in the face?
  - triceratops 10mo ago

jquery 10mo ago

I'm convinced paper straws are a psy-op by the plastics industry to make us hate environmentalists.

hexbin010 10mo ago
Or 4D chess by the environmentalists so we go without straws entirely Classic replacement of something good with something terrible so customers opt out
Am4TIfIsER0ppos 10mo ago
No it's to punish us when it isn't us causing the alleged plastic problem. When the orders went out all the western media took holidays to the far east to film garbage filled rivers in india, the philippines, indonesia. Your disposable plastic straw wasn't ending up there. Your plastic bottle might have been but that's only because of the recycling scam. It should have been burned like the oil it is.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

piyushpr134 10mo ago

paper straws do not make any sense any way you look at it. Are we saying that we are okay to cut trees to make straws when we could make them out of petroleum ? Moreover, paper straws are not even recyclable due to water content which makes them soggy. Plastic ones are almost 100% recyclable Most importantly, unlike plastic straws, they are laced with glue and other chemicals which gets ingested.

injidup 10mo ago
Soggy is not a problem.Recycling paper involves wetting it to loose the fibres and then reforming it. It's how paper is made.
- ulrikrasmussen 10mo ago
  But usually paper and cardboard that has been in contact with food is not recyclable because it contaminates the batch. That's why pizza boxes also cannot go into the cardboard/paper fraction.
  - vanviegen 10mo ago
    No, that's because pizza boxes are contaminated with fat. That messes up the paper recycling process. Water is fine.
    - GCUMstlyHarmls 10mo ago
      Man, if that's the problem then I can only assume any fast food box is not recyclable too?
      - teiferer 10mo ago
        The point of paper fast food boxes is not to recycle them but to have no trash in the end as they just burn or rot, all in a sustainable way. In contrast to plastic.
- bluescrn 10mo ago
  > Soggy is not a problem. It is when you're trying to suck a thick milkshake through one, though...
vanviegen 10mo ago
> Are we saying that we are okay to cut trees to make straws when we could make them out of petroleum ? Uhh.. yes? Trees can be grown, just like any agriculture product. > Plastic ones are almost 100% recyclable In theory. However that rarely works out in practice, due to the complications of mixing various types of plastic in a single stream of garbage. > Most importantly, unlike plastic straws, they are laced with glue and other chemicals which gets ingested. The glue for paper straws will be a biodegradable water-based adhesive. It may be finished with natural wax. And that's it. I think you are intentionally spreading FUD saying glue and chemicals. That being said, I hate paper straws. I like bamboo straws though.

repeekad 10mo ago

Most paper straws use PFAS, meaning we’re actively composting PFAS in a fantasy effort to feel good about our waste without actually giving anything up https://fortune.com/well/2023/08/24/paper-straws-harmful-forever-chemicals-plastic-straws/ https://fortune.com/well/2023/08/24/paper-straws-harmful-for...

qmr 10mo ago
Thanks just the dystopian news I needed today. What a stupid joke.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

philipwhiuk 10mo ago

> Nobody makes fun of LED light bulbs because (up front cost aside) they are wildly superior to incandescent There was huge resistance to wiping out the inefficient bulbs in the UK. Many many people stockpiled them.

HWR_14 10mo ago
At switching time, the affordable option was compact fluorescents. Which did suck.

simgt 10mo ago

Good that they suck, people might realize that they may as well refuse the straw, drink from the glass and that their life is exactly as comfortable as before the ban.

deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]

woadwarrior01 10mo ago

> Nobody makes fun of LED light bulbs because (up front cost aside) they are wildly superior to incandescent. There's burgeoning movement called "PWM sensitive"[1] that's opposed to (cheap) LED lights. [1]: https://old.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/ https://old.reddit.com/r/PWM_Sensitive/

Liftyee 10mo ago
The frequencies that they claim affect them are disputable but the flickering in some cheap LED lights is real. Badly/cheaply designed electronics can have flicker as bad as 50 Hz if they use half bridge diode rectification only (e.g. that time I was passing through Geneva airport and the Christmas lights flickered in my peripheral vision)
- evandrofisico 10mo ago
  yep, i had one led stripe with a controller with a flickering that was kinda invisible to the eye, but very noticeable on camera.

triceratops 10mo ago

I don't understand the moaning and bellyaching about straws. Are people that bad at drinking from cups? If you aren't a toddler or bed-ridden patient in a hospital (EDIT: or anyone else with physical conditions that necessitate a straw) you should be able to drink without a straw.

remove-resolve 10mo ago
Mouth cancer. I can live a normal life EXCEPT I can't allow liquids to touch my lips. Without straws I have to go through agony just to be minimally hydrated. Paper straws get stuck to my necrotic flesh and tear it off. There are a variety of conditions that straws are helpful for. A lot of people have health issues that make it difficult to swallow. A lot of people have mouth and lip conditions. What I don't understand is all the moaning and groaning about the smallest piece of plastic that helps a LOT of disabled people have a semblance of normalcy, when here are much larger plastic fish to fry. We use plastic for basically everything but people have tunnel visioned on a minor piece that actually helps people. It's myopic.
- triceratops 10mo ago
  I thought "bed-ridden patient" covered everyone who is physically unable to drink without straws due to disabilities or other conditions. I guess that wasn't clear enough though. My apologies. I've edited my comment now. > What I don't understand is all the moaning and groaning about the smallest piece of plastic that helps a LOT of disabled people have a semblance of normalcy You have to admit it's been turned into a culture war point by people who mostly don't need straws. They just need boogeymen to rile up people against environmentalism in general.
pixl97 10mo ago
>Are people that bad at drinking from cups? You ever had the ice in the bottom of the cup turn into a large chunk then hit you in the face?
- triceratops 10mo ago