I suppose that's the sound of the system working.

Certainly I note use fewer plastic bags since they started charging for them, though I have also thrown away quite a few broken, much, much thicker, bags and bought a lot more small bin bags since then.

But neither the straw or bag are anywhere near a major contributor to plastic use, though I can see plastic bags certainly were a major litter source and are much less often found in hedges now.

I prefer liquid drinks without a straw, but I find that most of my friends and family prefer straws. And not paper straws. Don't know a single person who likes paper straws.

My wife works for Starbucks and when they were pushing the sippy lids, many customers would ask for straws to go with the sippy cup lid.