ELi5: How did plastic straws specifically become targeted for eco-friendly banning, but similar disposables like plastic forks and spoons didn’t?
In: Culture
Public backlash over e.g. turtles being harmed by straws in the ocean.
Companies noticed the anger, loudly and publicly started using fewer straws, and (correctly) assumed that customers would fail to consider how small of a fraction of the waste stream is straws specifically. That way, they can sidestep calls for regulation or more drastic options.
Other silverware disposables are less common, so they don’t fall under as much scrutiny. Straws are at every coffee/shake place, and every restaurant. It’s mostly that they’re visible. Normal plastic product packaging and soda/water bottles are many many times more destructive to the environment than disposable food plastics. So is it misguided ire? Probably. Is it gonna kill us that CA is limiting straws? No
A nine year old girl say a photo of a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, and wrote a paper about how bad it is that plastic straws end up in the ocean.
Somehow it went viral, and bada bing bada boom, cities are outlawing straws.
A couple of videos made rounds on the internet a year or two ago in which straws were stuck in the nostrils of some sea turtles.
The videos were tough to watch and kinda sad.
I think that’s probably what made the straws a really easy target.
Every place that has plastic spoons & forks also have plastic straws but not every place that has plastic straws have plastic spoons & forks.
– Convenience stores that don’t have hot food but soda fountains.
– Coffee shops or juice stores (Jamba, smoothie king) that don’t have food but only drinks.
– Restaurants that have metal utensils but plastic straws.
I think it has more to do with the fact that the majority of people don’t actually need a straw. It’s very easy to sip from the cup. If we compare it to eating spaghetti or some other food, you kinda need a utensil to eat it. We should definitely consider all plastic a problem, but straws definitely are not necessary in order to drink a beverage.
I think because you really dont need a straw. For many foods you need a fork of knife of spoon to consume whatever it is but i cant think of any drink that you cant just drink out of the cup instead of using a straw. I for one despise plastic bags, single use containers and plastic cutlery and plates etc. I try to bring reusable wherever I go and even for those big gatherings seek eco friendly alternatives. We actually spend the extra spend the money on palm leave plates. I hope for the day where everyone has a picnic basket in their car with reusable everything concerning food. Bringing your own dishes and cutlery to large parties would be an awesome cultural norm. bio degradable take away containers should be mandatory, plastic bags illegal.
Because the climate death cult crowd needs something new to blame the end of the world on. Plastic straws aren’t the first thing.
it was a perfect storm.
there was that video of a turtle with the straw in nose. which is terrible but probably pretty rare in relation to other garbage related deaths of sea animals.
then a kid decided to try to see how many plastic straws america used and threw away for a school paper. so they called all the local fast food restaurants nearby and asked them to estimate how many plastic straws they used in a day or week or whatever. then she just multiplied that average by however many restaurants the kid thought there were in the US… thats how they go the total.
its like… im not complaining, because pollution is bad and all… but straws becoming public enemy number 1, and letting corporations give themselves pats on the back for replacing them… it didn’t do that much for the environment.
9 year old makes false claim 500million straws are used in US every single day based on a random guess from business, in a school project. Has become a political talking point and cultural movement.
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