As with many skirmishes within the War on Plastics, there are arguments in favour of doing away with items purely because they are plastic, with their chemical composition being the sole reason for banishing a plastic product altogether, regardless of the wider environmental and practical implications.
One of the biggest plastic products to come under fire in 2018 is the plastic straw, which has been outright banned or is at least in the process of being phased out entirely from many outlets including Starbucks and McDonalds.
Plastic straws are notoriously difficult to recycle. They are flimsy and thin and food contaminated, and recyclers require huge amounts to make recycling their materials viable, which is why they simply are not economically worthy of reprocessing into a recycled material.
Straws
Now, plastic straws are becoming less and less common, with paper straws appearing more frequently in the bars and cafes of the world, while social media is alive with products such as the telescopic metal straws you can slip into your bag or pocket and take with you everywhere you go, or plastic straws to wash at home and re-use.
Drinking straws are used to stir drinks, protect sensitive teeth and protect lipstick – or at least this is what most people think their main purpose is for. A paper or reusable straw would be a fine gap-plugger for these needs when plastic straws go the way of the dinosaurs, but I stumbled upon an argument on Twitter in the form of a diagram by @sarahbreannep in favour of plastic straws recently that stopped me in my tracks and forced me to think again, debating in favour of plastic straws for the quality of life they offer the disabled.
No alternative straw, listed as metal, bamboo, glass, silicone, acrylic, paper or pasta, would fulfil all the needs of one single use straw for a disabled consumer.
Metal and bamboo straws, which have become the new must-have for environmental warriors after the Keepcup went mainstream, are expensive and an injury risk – likewise glass.
Silicone straws are the best alternative but are too expensive, paper straws aren’t high-temperature safe and are a choking hazard, acrylic straws are also liable to melt, while pasta straws could end up cooking in a hot drink or shattering in the mouth of the drinker causing risk of injury or choking.
Most critically, none of the alternatives offer positionability, which is a small but vital convenience for disabled consumers and their carers.
The disabled use plastic straws not only for eating and drinking, but for taking medication as well. This is the latest of many examples of how plastic products are used to help people live their lives and serves as a reminder that there are other factors at play that may, for many, loom larger than an urgency to ban single-use plastics in the wake of the Blue Planet effect.
A challenge for manufacturers to scratch their heads over, but certainly a huge incentive for those afraid of losing a little freedom or quality of life to stockpile plastic straws before it’s too late. I hope it’s not too long before a more environmentally-friendly option that is fit for purpose can do everything the incumbent product does.