ELi5: How did plastic straws specifically become targeted for eco-friendly banning, but similar disposables like plastic forks and spoons didn’t?
In: Culture
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.
Things that came with straws are more commonly ordered than foods that require disposable utensils. The volume is considerably higher.
For example, most fast food you can eat with your hands, but you still get a straw with the drink. Iced coffees you can drink with a straw are more popular than ever. Most drinks at bars came with a straw that people would immediately throw away. Etc.
People are missing the point in these comments:
Banning straws is like the near-ban of the 6-pack plastic rings (they didn’t get fully banned, but you’ve seen a ton of companies stop using them or using them less over the years). It’s about stopping the use of something that causes *direct harm* to sea life – not about the overall amount of plastic in the oceans.
Couple that with how endangered green sea turtles are, and when you have a product that is directly killing them, there is action that needs be taken.
It’s not about “an emotional reaction”, it’s about making sure a species doesn’t die out.
There is a picture of a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, that is the entire reason why and it is insane when we have so many bigger fish to fry. Plastic bags.. Plastic packaging for everything we buy……
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.
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.
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