Researchers found low concentrations of so-called forever chemicals in various “eco-friendly” straws, raising doubts about whether they’re an appropriate alternative.
Disposable products are gonna have problems to keep them cheap. The solution to straws is non-dispossble straws, always was.
Also this is still a silly topic, straws won’t save the planet.
Or stop using straws all together. Cups/lids can be made differently, so they are more like a sippy cup. You don’t NEED straws. Humans are totally capable of drinking directly from a cup, even without a special lid.
Single use bendy straws were literally invented to help keep bedbound and other disabled people alive.
Which is the only legitimate use case, but I bet >99% of straws produced aren’t used for that.
And you can buy bent straws in multiple materials, which are not intended to be disposable.
But no one is going to make straws to serve only 1% of the population. Accessibility features need to become mainstream (or forced into effect by the government) for it to actually benefit people with disabilities.
Everyone needs to use wheelchairs or wheelchair bound people can’t benefit! What a silly argument. Costs will be higher, but the niche will be filled if it’s needed.
Anyone can buy a wheelchair…
And wheelchair ramps were made legally required in many places.
Could be declared a medical product.
So US hospitals can charge $37 for a single straw?
No, no straws for anyone, and take away their special ramps too. It’s all or nothing because that’s the only way my argument works. Color spectrum, exceptions? All I see is black and white.
Woah woah woah, will someone please think of the cocaine users?
People have been using money forever, they’ll be fine.
That’s gross. Paper straws are the way 🤌
Ivory for an extra dose of cruelty!
Quick edit: do not use paper straws for cocaine. Porous material will absorb your product. Also heat your surface before chopping, to make the product as fine as possible.
Stop making it complicated. Just line it up on someone’s ass and get your nose down in it like god intended.
That one’s checked off my bucket list, and I cannot be more happy.
People carrying cash now are worrying.
(I’m kidding, though I don’t carry much anymore. Enough for some gas or something if there’s an emergency and my card doesn’t work for whatever reason.)
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Straws are an accessibility need for some humans, not everyone is actually physically capable of drinking directly from a cup.
That’s fine, they can have their own non disposables for their own needs. We do NOT need to keep polluting the planet (yeah I know there are plenty of other ways we do it) with EVERYTHING being disposable.
Single use bendy straws were literally invented to help keep bedbound and other disabled people alive. There are also many reasons people can’t use different alternatives.
You personally not using something, doesn’t mean others don’t, and to deny access to a literal lifeline for the sake of 0.003% of the plastics in the ocean (literally a drop in an ocean) because it makes you feel better and requires zero effort or sacrifice (from you), instead of actually acting to resolve the problem (like being anti-capitalist rather than just trying to apply band aids to its symptoms) is not only gross and ableist, but also a colossal counterproductive waste of time.
I’m not in disagreement regarding moving away from disposable goods, especially plastic based ones. Just trying to point out the problem isn’t as cut and dry as you suggested. Straws are popular partly because they are more accessible so any solution that involves getting rid of them should take that need into account.
No, straw are popular because that’s what we have always been given, and people want convenience. Yeah, a small subset of people may need that assistance, but let’s not pretend that most people are being altruistic.
My mother is up there in age, every time she drinks from a cup she ends up spilling it on herself. Im not saying she NEEDS straws, but it sure makes it easier on her.
I wouldn’t say that nobody ever should use straws, but there are definitely a lot of people who use straws even when it’s not necessary, like when they’re just sitting in a restaurant eating.
I can agree that having a straw is easier for takeaway eaten on the go or in the car too, for example.
Costco food court lids come to mind. They have a hole near the side where you can either use a straw or drink directly.
I’ve never seen those in person, but after an image search, yeah, exactly. I only used starbucks as an example because they are everywhere, and most people have seen them before.
How are you going to drink bubble tea without a straw?
I started making my own boba and I got a set of big glass boba straws.
Same way I already do, tear the plastic “lid” off and dump it down my throat.
I too enjoy gargling little black balls
Enjoy the deluge of balls.
How do you get pearls that are at the bottom of the cup? You drink the tea first and then use a spoon for pearls? Bubble tea requires a straw to properly enjoy. Otherwise you can’t get a mixture of both tea and pearls.
Swirl the cup? You can get them evenly dispersed evenly pretty easily.
Have you ever had bubble tea?
Yes, I have, have you ever used your brain?
That’s an incredibly stupid suggestion.
Metal straws have gotten very popular in Taiwan, the home of bubble tea. It’s not that inconvenient to take a metal straw or other reusable straw with you.
I’m not going to keep a metal straw on me for the odd time I want bubble tea.
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So, your suggestion is to continue to kill the planet, because we might inconvenience a small subset of the population? I get it, I really do, it’s not fair for them, but those people can carry reusables if they need a straw.
So your suggestion is to let disabled people die because you can’t be bothered to fight the actual problem and just want a feel-good campaign to take part in and to feel superior to others with?
At least be honest…No, as I have said in MULTIPLE other comments. Straws exist in other flavors than plastic or disposable. Non disposables also come in a variety of shapes. People can use those. Where did I say they shouldn’t have something they need.
Like I also said in another comment, people who “need” straws now all just died of dehydration before plastic/disposable straws existed?
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Slurpie with icecream would like a word
As I said, I hate using Starbucks as an example, but they have drinks that are roughly the same consistency, and they are fine to drink out of their newer lids sans straws.
No
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Capitalism is a race to the bottom.
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Capitalism resists regulation, and races to the bottom. Two people, providing identical goods and I’m direct competition, will race to compete on price. If one manages to skirt regulation and the other doesn’t, the one who cheated will win.
This will compound on itself until it overtakes an entire economy, and that’s where the US is now. Every corporate entity with the means to do so actively lobbying to defeat decades of proven regulation in the name of profit.
It may not be by design, but it is in practice.
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Except that someone putting capital up is looking to maximize their return. Obviously they want more back than what they put in. Given endless greed, you have a feedback loop where they put less and less in while getting more and more back. Those improper regulations are caused by those same people paying to prevent regulations or to have those regulations work in their favor.
The Soviet Union was not a communist country because the means of production were not owned by the workers but instead by the state. The state being made up of a few privileged individuals who were the greedy bastards of that system.
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Greed is not inherent to humans, that’s just a lie sold to you by the greedy. I’m happy with what I’ve got and I’m not looking to collect mansions, yachts, trips to space, etc. Most people are fine with a modest lot in life and don’t relentlessly pursue unhealthy amounts of wealth. It’s a sickness.
You can keep putting in less and less until the system breaks. This is what we’re seeing now. Cracks manifest in the form of gross wealth inequality (i.e. massive power imbalance) and all the consequences that entails. These greedy sickos will push the system to the limit and give back as little as they can to maintain power.
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Capitalism hates regulations. Pick one.
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It is owned and controlled by a handful.
We really need to change the way that consumers consume things. People need to stop acting entitled to everything they want immediately and with every convenience available.
Maybe people should start travelling around with their own straws. Have a craving for an iced coffee?? Well either bring your own metal/silicone reusable straw or deal with drinking straight from the cup. Be responsible and stop expecting corporations and government to solve every issue and maintain the lifestyle we have had the past few decades.
Things need to change in order for the world to get better, and maintaining the same level of convenience and consumption is unfortunately not something that we can afford.
Single use bendy straws were literally invented to help keep bedbound and other disabled people alive. There are also many reasons people can’t use different alternatives.
You personally not using something, doesn’t mean others don’t, and to deny access to a literal lifeline for the sake of 0.003% of the plastics in the ocean (literally a drop in an ocean) because it makes you feel better and requires zero effort or sacrifice (from you), instead of actually acting to resolve the problem (like being anti-capitalist rather than just trying to apply band aids to its symptoms) is not only gross and ableist, but also a colossal counterproductive waste of time.
Yeah nah. Non disposable straws are just going to become disposable straws that take up more material and are more expensive. Just like the “reusable” plastic bags they use at the grocery store now.
Strongly recommend hay straws (like, made of “straw”).
They’re better than paper in that they don’t sog up. They’re inconsistent in size but that has never bothered me. A little flimsy, but I stir iced drinks with them all the time.
Or just drink from the cup?
Or steel straws. I’ve been using those for about 5 years now
I had metal straws but I switched to glass because I can see if they’re clean easily and they feel better imo.
Can’t use those with toddlers
I can’t do metal, I HATE the feeling of metal on my teeth. There are ones with silicon nubs on the end, but then that’s more plastic…
I believe silicone is its own natural material, not plastic
Petty sure its made from oil same as plastic, resin, etc.
It’s made out of the element, silicon, hence the name.
I use a metal straw with a silicon bendy bit on the end, and it’s not like I throw away the bendy part.
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Doesn’t work well for thicker beverages like milkshakes or iced coffee’s. But for most drinks i agree no straw is best.
What do you mean you can’t drink ice coffee without a straw?
The best milkshakes I’ve had didn’t use straws – too thick.
That’s called ice cream
I do that too. There are plenty of subthreads going arguing straw-use is an accessibility issue, but in my case, I just want them for specific drinks – mostly cocktails.
The head on a Ramos Gin Fizz practically requires a straw to enjoy. Especially as someone with a mustache.
Yeah!!! Straws suck!
When you’re driving?
I’ve had similar, but they smelled like… hay.
Do these have any smell?
They don’t have any taste even if you chew on them a bit. The box does have a slight shrub odor, but it doesn’t seem to be present when using them.
Holy shit why didn’t anyone think of this before lol
Well straw can easily split. Don’t know how I feel like spending $5 on grass. 🙄
Also sugar cane straws
Do we really need more sugar? We already have too much sugar in our diets. Why make straws into sugar too?
They make the straw from parts of the sugar cane plant that don’t contain sugar. (After using the other parts to make sugar.)
Correct :)
It’s basically made of wood pulp.
I do love people’s knee jerk reaction at the word “sugar”. I don’t think they’ve ever seen a sugar cane, they’re probably imagining this:
Now they’re making canes out of sugar?! /s
Sugar cane, silly, not candy cane :)
It’s wood pulp, there is almost zero sugar in a sugar cane once they’re done extracting the cane sugar out of it, which is when it can be re-used to do other things.
It’s made of bagasse (sugarcane fibers, basically wood pulp) and binders like PLA and is entirely compostable.
I’ma eat it anyway
I figured it was made from the sugar from sugar cane, but it seems that it is just the cane from the sugar cane. I have seen sugar straws, so my bad.
I agree
No comment on the level of PFAS aside from
though the levels were low
This is just feeding the outrage machine to get clicks. If it was a story they’d be citing concentration guidelines and telling you what concentrations were found in the products. It’s not a story, it’s rage bait.
I agree 99%. The 1% left is that, honestly, it is shitty that they contain any kind of PFAS to begin with. If PFAS in any kind of concentration are part of the production process, then it just isn’t sustainable in the long run.
But the question is why do we need straws at all. I doubt that back in 1970 anyone would drink a latte macchiato with a straw. I found it strange just 15 years ago. If you fancy straws, you can get one high quality reusable one (steel, bamboo whatever) and carry it with you - I find this proposition much less offensive then expecting me to always carry a huge reusable cup with me. And for the most part you can consume drinks without a straw.
Now, there is people who have disabilities that require them to use a straw. For them, have some in store as a vendor, and hand them out if requested.
Agreed. If it was “intentionally added” PFAS, it would say that, and that might be a big deal. I read through the article and didn’t see that. Just speculation that it might be. PFAS is everywhere.
If I’m not mistaken, manufacturing facilities spray PFAS agents on various conveyor parts to prevent pulp from sticking to them and therefore require stoppage and cleaning. In other words, PFAS reduce the time and money spent on cleaning manufacturing equipment. Congratulations shareholders!
I’m glad someone is thinking of the shareholders. It’s about time we focus on them and not such pesky abstractions like “the environment” or “the future”
/s
We have a couple metal straws and washable plastic ones. The metal ones probably have lead and the plastic ones are made of baby kittens.
We’ve got a bunch of glass ones. Probably has puppies in it or something.
Yeah but those are crack pipes so naturally you’re less picky.
Oooh, is that why there were little roses in them?
The plastic ones will be leaching pthalates, microplastics and PFAS into whatever you’re drinking.
But then that’s true of any plastic you’re eating or drinking from so… cool cool cool.
But man, you can really taste the kitten
“All the straw manufacturers should take warning and say, ‘Hey, do we use this stuff?’ Because at the moment, they’re not even asking that question,”
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Yeah, it sucks that straws somehow became the poster child for saving the world. It’s nowhere near our main problem, even with sea plastic (that would be discarded fishing nets) but if we can masochistically try to suck a milkshake through a collapsing, leaking, sticking to my lips, paper straw then I must be doing something good, right…?
Throwaway plastics are mostly banned in Europe.
I don’t fuck with ANY straw that ain’t metal
Okay, but what kind of straws do you drink with?
I use glass ones personally - tried plastic ones but kept biting them 🤦♂️.
Have you had any issues with rust on your straws? I’ve noticed some stainless steel stuff goes rusty if it’s been left on some other wet steel item for a while, although I have no idea why that happens
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Read the entire thing:
Of the straws tested in the study, those made of paper were the most likely to contain PFAS: The chemicals were detected in 18 out of 20 brands. Four out of five bamboo straws sampled contained PFAS, compared to three out of four plastic straws and two out of five glass straws. All five stainless steel straws analyzed were PFAS-free.
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Aww what a surprise… not
God i love my glass straws
When the craze first started I remember seeing paper straws in plastic. Someone was close but didnt quite get it.
You do know that thin film clear “plastic” isn’t actually plastic right? Most of that is cellophane, which is made from plants and is biodegradable.
That’s why I used the word plastic and not “cellophane.” There were and still are companies that use non-biodegradable, non-plant based plastics to package their paper straws. But thank you…? I know you were going for a big internet gotcha moment there.
I knew I should have avoided the comments… The fact that defence of this bullshit ban still endures (and in the literal face of its failures) frustrates me beyond words.
The plastic straws also contain PFAS anyway so paper still may be marginally better, but it’s definitely money and time that could have been better spent on a different environmental initiative. I’m happy to see plastic bags go, though. Can’t win em all
Haha fucking idiot whoever came up whit this bullshit.
