> While the plastic straws had no measurable PFAS, 21 PFAS were detected in the paper and other plant-based straws
Wow. That's evil.
Wow. That's evil.
Historically, straws were also made from waxed paper.
The issue isn't that plastic straws were banned, it is that plastic straws were banned and no additional guidance was provided e.g., mandating paper straws with natural wax coatings. This combined with corporate greed led to companies putting out the most profitable product within constraints of the law-- health and environmental safety be damned.
The first paragraph of the following article describes both types of historical drinking straws:
https://www.encyclopedia.com/manufacturing/news-wires-white-...
edit: clarity
Straws made from plant stalks simply aren’t suited to mass distribution. They aren’t uniform, can’t easily be sanitized before packaging, they’re fragile, and still leak and get soaked.
The problem isn’t “corporate greed” it’s that there aren’t good alternatives to plastic for disposable straws.
The problem isn't the cars. The problem is that we don't all live in some fantasy where people have time to sit down and eat their food and drink not on the go. If it wasn't the straws people would be complaining about the plastic coffee cup lids.
Something made of cellulose that breaks down more easily would be better, so long as it comes from agricultural byproducts.
*edit I’m saying this might be better because some light plastics like straws end in in storm drains and on road sides, so something that breaks down over time into organic compounds might be preferable.
And later cultures could dig it up and burn it, if they wanted to.
Stones stay around for a long time, too, but no one cares. (And fire can destroy plastic easily.)
This might be a USA thing but a lot of times in restaurants they’ll bring me my drink with a straw in it and I can’t help but think “WTF do I look like a six year old?”
Drinks with takeaway food here have been using that style of cup for years now.
- Straws use disposable plastic
- Replacement paper straws are coated with a toxic chemical
- Straws are only necessary so that we can drink sugary drinks
- Sugary drinks don't even taste that good, and also cause diabetes and tooth decay
The problem with plastic straws, if you believe their opponents (whose claims I have not evaluated), is that they are persistent pollutants that harm animals. If paraffin-waxed paper straws are not, that's an improvement, petroleum or no.
Or just make it part of a general carbon tax.
I didn’t expect capitalism to be Fermi’s Filter, but kind of makes sense.
Yes, crude oil isn't the only source of wax, and neither it is the only source of plastic.
However, if you make wax out of something, you can't make anything else out of the same material.
Plastic straws are really light-weight. Waxed paper uses a lot more material.
Clearly we shouldn’t use PFAS in straws, but waxed straws are awful.