ELi5: How did plastic straws specifically become targeted for eco-friendly banning, but similar disposables like plastic forks and spoons didn’t?
In: Culture
I think it has more to do with the fact that the majority of people don’t actually need a straw. It’s very easy to sip from the cup. If we compare it to eating spaghetti or some other food, you kinda need a utensil to eat it. We should definitely consider all plastic a problem, but straws definitely are not necessary in order to drink a beverage.
Every place that has plastic spoons & forks also have plastic straws but not every place that has plastic straws have plastic spoons & forks.
– Convenience stores that don’t have hot food but soda fountains.
– Coffee shops or juice stores (Jamba, smoothie king) that don’t have food but only drinks.
– Restaurants that have metal utensils but plastic straws.
A couple of videos made rounds on the internet a year or two ago in which straws were stuck in the nostrils of some sea turtles.
The videos were tough to watch and kinda sad.
I think that’s probably what made the straws a really easy target.
A nine year old girl say a photo of a turtle with a straw stuck in its nose, and wrote a paper about how bad it is that plastic straws end up in the ocean.
Somehow it went viral, and bada bing bada boom, cities are outlawing straws.
Other silverware disposables are less common, so they don’t fall under as much scrutiny. Straws are at every coffee/shake place, and every restaurant. It’s mostly that they’re visible. Normal plastic product packaging and soda/water bottles are many many times more destructive to the environment than disposable food plastics. So is it misguided ire? Probably. Is it gonna kill us that CA is limiting straws? No
Public backlash over e.g. turtles being harmed by straws in the ocean.
Companies noticed the anger, loudly and publicly started using fewer straws, and (correctly) assumed that customers would fail to consider how small of a fraction of the waste stream is straws specifically. That way, they can sidestep calls for regulation or more drastic options.
ELi5 – When I was growing up, everything was glass. Why can’t we shift back to that?
Someone pulled a plastic straw out of a turtle’s cloaca. The video went viral, and thus straws became the enemy. The problem is that people aren’t equally outraged by other plastic debris, so the whole movement is a little lopsided.
Edit: [Heres a podcast by Science Vs on the subject](https://gimletmedia.com/amp/shows/science-vs/94hwzr)
The picture of the straw up the turtle’s nose just highlights how much damage they can do to marine life, more than other types of single use plastics.
The reason plastic straws are the target is that they’re so difficult to recycle because of the size and malleability, so they often slip past the machines. Your point about other cutlery is a good one, and the EU, for example is trying to ban them as well as plastic straws. It won’t have a large effect on reducing total plastic waste, but it would be a good place to start before moving onto more items, particularly if you’re able to get the really big polluters in Asia on board. Alsoit could make a significant difference in helping certain marine life, more than if you banned spoons or forks.
The real problem with banning plastic straws is the problems it would cause people with limited ability to use their arms. For many they’re the only way to drink out of a cup in a dignified manner.
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