Is banning plastic straws really going to help us save the Earth? If you’ve been on the internet at all the past few months it seems like plastic straws keep making the news. The major headline about plastic straws was this one. Starbucks to ban all straws by 2020.
There was immediate backlash about the ban most of it being “hey, some people with disabilities need straws to drink”, and Starbucks basically responded saying “straws will be available upon the request for those who need them”.
A couple weeks later Disney also made an announcement saying they would eliminate single-use straws at all of their locations by mid 2019. I’ve even noticed celebrities speaking out against plastic straw use using a hashtag #stopsucking.
Even Kim Kardashian joined in on the fun. Even though we all know she uses plastic straws, and Starbucks and Disney are just two of the more major companies making a straw ban.
It was just announced today that California will be banning plastic straws from full-service restaurants starting January 1st. But don’t worry you can still ask to have one… you just need to ask. California also made a similar law years ago because of the lack of water in the state, that restaurants would not automatically serve you water, the customer had to ask for first.
But not everybody is confident that banning plastic straws is gonna change anything. There’s already so much plastic in the ocean. But the thing is, both sides are actually kind of right.
You know that Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the ocean? That’s double the size of Texas? Well, actually 46 percent of that patch is single use fishing nets. And a lot of the rest is other types of fishing gear.
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But that doesn’t mean there’s not plastic straws still in our ocean. Remember that one sea turtle that had a plastic straw in his nose? Poor guy. Some think this that turtle is really what kicked off the no straw movement.
So even though straws aren’t the biggest problem activists hope it will be “gateway plastic”, meaning they hope it encourages people to stop using other single use plastic. hey also hope it raises awareness about all the freaking plastic in the ocean. Long story short plastic is bad.
What do you guys think about the plastic straw debate? Do you use single use plastic? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter at @WhatsTrending.
