I recently went to an evening event hosted by the Bogue Banks Chapter of the SurfRider foundation where they were showing a film Straws by North Carolina film maker Linda Booker. It is a short 30 minute film that highlights the absolute absurdity of plastic straw over-use in modern culture. It is true that straws are one of the most ubiquitous unnecessary products on the planet.
There was a child in the film that started a movement in Costa Rica to eliminate plastic straw use in his town. He was asked by an adult "why do you think straws were invented in the first place" "what problem do straws solve". The child thinks for a moment and states "I guess straws solve the problem of lifting a cup to your face". He then laughs at the absurdity of this problem.
Think about it. How many times do you use a straw in one day? Do you really need that straw? Do you even think about it? Did the waiter even give you a choice? Or did they just automatically bring it out? When you grab a straw with your drink, I bet you don't even give it a second thought,... where the straw may end up after you use it for 30 minutes then discard it.
While there are certainly larger plastic production and consumption problems than straws, the straw-less revolution is truly a great place to start when trying to reduce your plastic consumption. In fact, the straw-less movement is unique in that straws are entirely unnecessary and serve no useful purpose unless you have a medical condition. The straw-less movement is also very accessible for each individual, and helps empower each person to make a small difference and raise awareness of a larger problem.
Some data that was presented in the film that was very alarming;
There are some estimates that the biomass of ocean life could be outweighed by the mass of ocean drifting plastics by 2050 if we continue on at our current rate. In other words, more plastic in the ocean than living things. So sad!
There are enough plastic straws consumed in one day in the US that if they were lined up end to end they would go around the earth 2.5 times. I have not fact checked this statistic, but it is quite alarming.
The equivalent of 5 grocery bags full of plastic trash for every square foot of coastline worldwide spills into the ocean on an annual basis.
As it turns out there are many alternatives to plastic straws. The first clear alternative is to drink from the cup and stop being a selfish douche.