I saw an interesting video the other day, it fueled the fire against plastic straws for me even more. Even if a plastic straw does reach a recycling plant they are often not recycled, see when recycling plants were build they didn't think of things as small a straws, straws more than often fall between the cracks of the machinery.
Starbucks was one of the first major companies that started this conversation, one of the way they are responding is by changing up their lids...will this work though? The new lids have a lip on them and resemble a "sippy cup" lid. The problem is that these lids actually increase the amount of plastic that Starbucks is using.
Changing the lids doesn't work, using plastic straws isn't working, so what can we do? How about we all just bring our own straw, simple as that. Small sacrifice to make to make a big impact. Straws make up small amount of the plastic in the ocean, but if we have to find a mainstream starting point to stopping the use of plastic. Reusable straws have such a low barrier to entry, they're affordable, and they can make a difference. Step out of your comfort zone, try something new, and get yourself a reusable straw.
Here is the video I watched that struck this post:
