My Switches #1: Plastic Straw



Did you know that 291,241 plastic straws were collected in the 2018 International Coastal Cleanup in the Philippines?

Read about it here and find out more about them in the Philippines.

In the US a little over 500 MILLION straws are used EACH DAY! That’s 1 BILLION in two days and a lot of ILLIONS in a year.

It won’t solve the plastic crisis. But it’s a start.

I’m not going to scare you with a lot details on how bad plastic straws are to our environment but here are some just to get you curious enough to do your own research.
  1. Most plastic straws are too lightweight to make it through mechanical recycling sorter.
  2. When they make it to the ocean it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces called micro plastics. We all know where these end up. 
  3. Plastic straw is the 11th most found ocean trash 
  4. They do not biodegrade and never fully degrade.

Here’s some good news though - the simplest way to reduce plastic pollution is to REJECT the use of single-use plastics like STRAWS.

You know that phrase “Just Say No?” That applies here, too. Just say no.

For most people, that’s fairly easy. However, there are people who need to use straws. Here are some alternatives.

1. Bamboo Straw: they are biodegradable and do not leach chemicals (like the infamous BPA) into your body. It is 100% natural, chemical free and reusable.
2. Metal Straw: also BPA free, reusable and lasts for a long time.
3. Glass Straw

What did I switch to?

We tried both bamboo straw and metal straws.

My 4 year old son still uses his metal straws but what we noticed is it gets pretty cold or hot pretty quickly. Also, I’m always worried that he might chip his tooth if he’s careless, which we know most toddlers are. :)

For the adults in the house, we just refuse (ever so politely) the use of straw. When we need to, we have our pouch of metal and bamboo straws handy in each of our bags.

There are a lot of suppliers now for both metal straws and bamboo straws. Just go to Lazada or Shopee to get the best deals. 

Reference:

Go Zero and Be a Hero
International Coastal Cleanup Philippines
For a Strawless Ocean
Get Green Now

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