ELi5: How did plastic straws specifically become targeted for eco-friendly banning, but similar disposables like plastic forks and spoons didn’t?
In: Culture
Honestly plastic forks and spoons aren’t even half of it. Have you tried buying a pre packaged meal at a grocery store? Absolutely unacceptable levels of waste
i need a fork to eat, i dont need a straw to drink a cocktail?
Plastic forks and spoons are generally recyclable.
Plastic straws are generally not recyclable.
Straws fit up a sea turtles nose the easiest. There was a turtle with a straw stuck in his nose and it went viral.
I would guess the sheer volume. Every fast food restaurant gives out plastic straws with every drink. How many give out plastic ware?
Every convenience store and gas station has a soda fountain and straws. How many have plastic ware?
Most sit down restaurants have plastic disposable straws and metal flatware.
If you go anywhere and get a fountain drink, you get a plastic straw. But how often do you see plastic ware? Pretty unusual outside of places like KFC or Wendy’s.
I knew of cutlery being targeted first. I was introduced to non-plastic biodegradable disposable tableware in the early 2000’s. This article on compostable cutlery (though not from ~2005 when I was actually introduced to those products) does predate the anti straw fad. http://www.biomasspackaging.com/how-compostable-utensils-are-made/
Single use plastics have been on the hit list for coming on decades (plural) now
The real reason is that straws are largely unnecessary. You can make drinks and lids that can be drank from for any drink. However, some meals require utensils.
I sort of question the premise. Compostable utensils are becoming increasingly popular at most places. Perhaps straws have the slight edge for reasons people have described in this thread, but other plastic utensils are not far behind.
How often do you use a straw in your life and how often do you use plastic forks and spoons in your life?
Almost every drink you get at a restaurant, or fast food, or a movie theater etc. has a straw.
The only time you use plastic silverware really is the occasional fast food meal that requires it or at a picnic or on a trip or moving.
and if you are using plastic silverware 100% of the time, you reeeally should take a long hard look at your life.
at a fast-food restaurant, when you bring your tray to the table, you’ll have a drinking straw almost 100% of the time but rarely have any cutlery.
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