No straw, please!
A simple way to start limiting your single-use plastic usage.
Straws may make you feel fancy, keep coffee from staining your teeth, or are so routine that you don’t even flinch when the barista or waitress has nicely included one with your drink. It’s easy to forget how wasteful they are. Use them once, then toss them in the trash. As a result, they end up in landfills, oceans, and in the mouths, noses, and stomachs of sea creatures. Even if you recycled them, they would fall through recycling machinery and end up in landfills anyways.
It has been estimated that Americans use 500 million straws every day, with an estimated 7.5 million plastic straws polluting U.S. shorelines. Wow!
Getting rid of the single-use straw is an easy first-step to your journey of becoming more eco-friendly. Are straws the major cause of plastic build-up in our oceans? No, but it’s an easy switch that doesn’t place a huge inconvenience on your everyday life. And, every little bit makes a difference.
So, what can we do to limit our straw usage? Until your city gets on board with banning plastic straws, like Seattle, ask your waiter or barista for ‘No straw, please!’. (If you don’t intentionally ask, you’ll most likely be given one out of routine–they just assume you want one.)
If you aren’t ready to give up the straw in your iced latte, but want to save the world, get a reusable one! Steel, bamboo, or glass. Some restaurants and shops are switching to paper, but that’s still single-use and wasteful. And honestly, who wants a soggy paper straw anyways?!
