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Comment by proaralyst | Hacker News Reader

Why are paper straws the wrong solution? Even if they take a little more energy to produce they at least don't leave long-term waste behind.

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Because they don't work for people with disabilities. They dissolve, they're more easily bent, they're less resistant to accidental biting. They disintegrate even faster with hot beverages.

I've heard this argument before, and please forgive me if this is insensitive. Are people with disabilities eased by non-paper straws not able to supply their own? Perhaps steel ones that can be reused many times? I appreciate that allowances for disabilities must be made, but I can also understand that general popular use of plastic straws is harmful to the environment.

Ok, then there's the rest of the objections.

Add to this, plastic straws are a trifling fraction of plastic pollution, and the made-up furor distracts from actual important issues.

There was a video on YouTube of a sea turtle with a straw lodged in its nose. I believe that was the spark the set off the straw-less movement.

What does that have to do with the question? Using paper straws would address the type of problem you mentioned, as they're (too) quickly bio-degradable. They may not be the right direction to go in (why do we use so many straws in the first place?), but they do solve that type of impact to marine animals.

Doesn't paper production require trees to be cut down?

Make them buy trees that have been grown just for paper(they definitely exist), no one's going to cut down old growth for paper... seriously that's prime high margin furniture material.

At least plastic straws are multi-use. It's rare that a paper straw makes it through a single drink.

When was the last time you saw someone re-use a plastic straw?

Last night the waiter topped off my iced tea three times and I continued to use the same plastic straw, whereas a single paper straw would not have lasted. It's a wetted time and solubility problem. Paper is water soluble--plastic is not.

I've used bad paper straws that didn't last through a single glass but any I've used in the last year has been much more robust. A better question than paper or plastic would be to ask why your iced tea needed a straw at all.

Same goes for plastic straw. Except maybe home use which is not very common.

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