Plastic straws take a couple of centuries to decompose, paper straws decompose while they’re in your drink and have an environmental footprint in production that’s actually higher than plastic straws. So, how would you feel about a paper/plastic straw ban while embracing the very vogue and futuristic pasta straw?
For reference: https://www.amazon.com/pasta-straws/s?k=pasta+straws
41 comments
Not on my watch.
Much better than paper
If it makes sense? Some crops are pretty terrible and need so much pesiticides, fertilizer, or water.
There’s bioplastics which are really good, and decompose in about 30 days.
What if we just used… no straws?
I can probably count on two hands the number of straws I’ve needed in the last decade.
Only for drinking marinara sauce…
Considerably better than Biodegradable/Compostable* corn straws. Possibly better than paper straws? Would need to see a cradle-to-grave analysis of the two but I’m fine with both at the moment.
Ideally, we move on from straws for anything that isn’t a shake.
*under very specific circumstances that are not present in any landfill where these straws are going to end up.
I’m for it assuming to actually helps the environment. It sucks how much trash and pollution we make over things as trivial as convenience.
People shouldn’t use straws if they are able but regular plastic straws should be freely available on the counter for disabled people’s use. The environmental impact of straws is overblown.
Interesting. I have reusable plastic straws I use 99% of the time. But I’m open to trying them.
I’ll drink out of whatever but it’s a no go for my wife with celiac.
I have weird textural issues around pasta and the thought of it becoming soft and rubbery while it’s sitting in your drink makes me want to gag. I’ll stick with my metal straws.
I dont find myself needing to spend $9 on 30 straws.
I’ll just drink straight from the cup
i’m sorry but plastic straw are the least of our environmental issue. i don’t want to give them up
there’s so much other stuff we could be doing for the environment and i don’t know why people act like plastic straws are the epitome of this issues
we all buy new clothes? we all buy new phones? new furniture? new houses? all this stuff produces way more waste then plastic straws. we all get stuff that’s get flown in and wastes so much fossil fuels and co2 to get to us.
i’d rather live in a society that reuses cell phone. thrifts clothes. then give up plastic straws. plastic straws make life so much easier. paper and all this stuff doesn’t compare.
there’s already a plastic cup. i’d rather have a reusable cup but keep a plastic straw. nothing we do will be perfect for the environment but i’d rather cut out something else than plastic straws
Tell China and India to get their situation under control first
I think the degree of attention given to plastic straws is roughly like trying to put out the wildfires in Canada with a single gallon of water.
So completely and utterly meaningless relative to the problem that I can’t even consider it productive.
Arguably it might even be counterproductive because these meaningless little acts distract from the need to enact rules/laws that would actually do something. “I’m doing my part” is a great way for people to feel like we’re making progress on the problem….but we’re not, at all. It’s getting worse, not better.
US plastic consumption has increased by roughly ~5 million tons in the 2010-20 decade alone, to something like 35 million tons.
Straws are 0.2% of that, by the estimates I can find.
I like my metal straws
Can’t be worse than paper straws.
How about straws made out of straw?
As someone with celiac, absolutely not.
No.
They would be a food item. They have a finite shelf life. They could be infested by animals. They’ll break when dropped. Imagine a case of them dropping off the back of a truck. They would impart a taste. The wetter they got the more slimy they would be.
Do you want to see plastic waste on a large scale? Take a look at any hospital. So much single-use plastic that gets discarded. Compared to that, straws are nothing.
Pasta straws feel like a waste of grain. I’ll stick to my metal straws. And restaurants should stop defaulting to giving plastic straws automatically, but have them available if people ask.
They make reusable metal and plastic straws. I don’t see pasta straws as an improvement. Pasta also gets gummy with moisture.
Totally open to the idea, but I’d need more info. They look great but aren’t they very brittle compared to paper straws? They’d almost certainly be heavier, so it comes down to how they’re packaged and shipped, and how well people like to use them.
I grew up in an Italian family and I like the idea of eating my straw afterward.
I’d be fine with it.
What if we just made cups with sippy lids instead? Look, takeout cups with straws are just sippy cups for adults. Let’s just cut the straws and do what Dunkin and Starbucks have done with making cups with sippy cups lids.
Don’t you think the pasta would have an production footprint too?
Also when you say “pasta straw”, I think you mean “ziti”.
It would depend on how good of a straw it was. The only reason we don’t like paper straws is because they are terrible as straws.
Metal straws are awesome but i’m not carrying one around on the off-chance i need a straw.
I would have said no, till I tried one in California
It was WAY BETTER THAN PAPER! It didn’t have a taste at all, and held up until i was done with my drink.
I think the banning of straws is more of a “feel good” uncontroversial ban, than one that will actually make a significant difference.
I usually go without the straw, but if pasta straws don’t change the flavor of the drink, and don’t break down after two mins like paper straws I am all for it.
Was just talking about this over the weekend for some reason. I do not normally use straws. The paper ones are not good. Someone made a good point about celiac/gluten-free, as well as physically disabled folks. My suggestion was to use Twizzlers with their ends cut off, but probably not good for diabetics.
Don’t they already make biodegradable straws from corn?
I hate paper straws. They ruin the experience of drinking something.
Fuck the turtles, gimme my fucking plastic straw.
Spaghetti Pepsi does have a certain ring to it.
I prefer no straw
This is why the rest of the West Coast desperately wants to not be associated with Cali.
I’d rather just not use a straw lol
I’m an adult so I don’t need a straw.
I was at Busch gardens in Florida last month and they had straws made from a necco wafer- type material. They develop a slimy texture when wet, but didn’t really dissolve in the drinks.
I think we should stop normalizing straw usage. Unless you have a disability or drinking a milkshake/smoothie you don’t need a fucking straw. I work in a fast food place and we have coffee cup type lids and every so often some dipshits will get offended that we don’t offer straws. It’s a fucking cup, you don’t need a straw. Your lips are built in straws.