September 24, 2018

Pass On Plastic, Save Our Oceans With A Stainless Steel Straw

In spite of their potentially negative environmental impacts, plastic drinking straws have become common sights in our daily living. If you have ever visited a restaurant and ordered a drink, then you might have contributed to the myriads of plastic wastes found in oceans and other water bodies. Most people are guilty of this act, and it may not even come to mind to say “no straw, please”. As insignificant as plastic drinking straws might look, they could constitute serious threats to marine life if used indiscriminately and allowed to build up in the environment. If you consider this, we might just begin to think of the environmentally-friendly stainless steel straws  as alternatives.

This isn’t about straws alone as plastics are generally bad for the environment, especially marine life. Only that we have allowed plastic drinking straws to linger in our environments for so long due to their seemingly insignificant sizes. According to a report by the Freedonia Group, Americans used an average of 390 million plastic straws each day of 2017! Plastic straws also rank among the top 20 most common type of trash in the ocean. Considering the impacts of plastic straw pollution, 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals reportedly die each year from plastic ingestion. These are only a few of the adverse impacts of plastic straws on the environment.

There are several reasons why plastic drinking straws are bad for the environment when compared with stainless steel straws. Some of these reasons which are known disadvantages are explained below:

• Plastics never fully degrade: As you may have observed, plastics are non-biodegradable materials. In addition to this, they don’t get completely broken down in the environment. As such, plastic straws become small indivisible pieces which remain in the environment when they degrade. A serious case of plastic straw pollution could result if these particles find their way into the ocean. In practice, it could take a whopping 200 years for plastic straws to degrade and still, the particles are not completely removed from the environment. You know the worst part of this? Plastic degradation releases toxic chemicals into the environment which of course is undesirable.

 

• Plastic drinking straws are often left out of recycling: While straws are made of recyclable Type 5 polypropylene materials, most recycling programs don’t accept them. Since they are too light to go through a mechanical recycling sorter, plastic straws are often made to pass through classification screens after which they are merged into other materials. Plastic straws in this form are eventually discarded as waste and guess where they end up? Landfills and oceans of course!

 

• Particularly dangerous for seabirds and sea turtles: It’s no longer news that plastic wastes end up in the ocean. Most times, this can be attributed to human error. Environmental experts have estimated that marine life could have a mortality rate as high as 50% when they ingest plastics. Also, annual deaths of over a million seabirds have been attributed to plastic ingestion. Sea turtles also face a similar problem.

 

How do we address environmental risks posed by plastic straws? Environmentalists advocate the use of reusable straws to address the menace of plastic straw pollution. This category of drinking straws are often made of glass or stainless steel. For the purpose of this post, we’ll focus on stainless steel straws as better alternatives to plastic straws. Stainless steel straws  are more preferable as they are thinner than the glass types. A slight problem with stainless steel straws could be cleanliness due to their reusable nature. However, this can be addressed by using a straw brush and rinsing in a dishwasher.

Apart from the general knowledge of being environmentally-friendly, there are several other reasons why you should consider using stainless steel straws. Here is a compilation of the benefits of stainless steel straws:

 

• Stainless steel straws are reusable and safe: This is the topmost benefit of stainless steel straws. You can always reuse on a countless number of occasions and they’re easy to clean. Stainless steel straws often come with cleaning brushes so you don’t have to worry about how to get them clean. They’re also dishwasher safe.

 

An additional bonus is that stainless steel straws don’t leach chemicals like plastic straws do. Plastic food packaging products are known to contain Bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical which increases the risk of reproductive disorders and diabetes. You can avoid getting exposed to such chemicals by opting for stainless steel straws.

 

• They are environmentally friendly: In case you are unaware, plastic straws constitute nuisance to the environment right from the point of manufacture. Air samples taken around manufacturing plants where plastic products are being produced was found to contain neurotoxins. These chemicals find their way into other life support systems to cause health problems. We already know how used straws get into landfills and water bodies to cause pollution. We can avoid this by opting for reusable stainless steel straws which are much friendlier on the environment.

 

• Suitable for kids of all ages: Unlike reusable straws that are made of glass, stainless steel straws are safe for kids and travel. They’re resilient and are not easily broken like the glass options. At least, you don’t have to worry about your kids breaking their straws and getting injured. Also, stainless steel straws can be easily transported from a place to another.

 

Furthermore, with the unique and elegant designs out there, stainless steel straws could make you feel unique and stylish while you take your smoothies and fruit juices. So you’re not only protecting the environment by using one, but you receive a taste of class as well. In addition, stainless steel straws become the center of attraction as part of your dining table. 

 

Let’s battle plastic straw pollution!

Considering the potential impacts of single use plastics like drinking straws, you might begin to consider rejecting plastic straws whenever you’re served drinks at a restaurant. While this is a good and effective way to address plastic straw pollution, it’s more sustainable to choose stainless steel straws instead of no straw at all.

 

The use of stainless steel straws is still less common compared to the plastic options. Spread awareness about reusable straws and their environmental friendliness by getting a few packs and send them out to your family members and friends. This way, you would be helping to #ProtectSeaTurtles and also spread the benefits of stainless steel straws.

Ditch The Plastic, get your stainless steel straws by clicking here today to help us keep the oceans clean and protect sea turtles.

Well, what are you waiting for? Our oceans and the sea turtles depend on us to make a difference. One person is all it takes to affect the tides, and cause a ripple in the right direction. It starts here.

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