The Plastic Straw Debate

    For the past century, plastic has been manufactured worldwide, improving the way we carry on our lives. It may seem like the perfect solution to any problem. However, plastic production’s disadvantages have started to catch up with us, and they’re coming in strong. Not only does making plastic cause heavy damage to our air and land, after it’s used, plastic is only recycled about 9% of the time. Many governments, local all the way up to national, have began to put limitations into effect after the UN IPCC, or the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned the our planet may only have 12 years left before it reaches a point of no return and no one will be able to fix the damage man made pollution has caused. One of the biggest targets is single use plastic drinking straws. I believe they should be banned.

Plastic straws are one of the main concerns for many reasons. The biggest is because “plastics can stay in landfills for hundreds of years. And plastic in the ocean floats round as small pieces (called microplastics) that can poison animals and hurt the environment” (Feltman 1). This plastic is continuing to build up more and more on our planet, taking over the land. Getting more specific, straws are targeted over other larger plastics because “plastic straws and other items smaller than two by two inches, such as plastic utensils, fall through the machinery that sorts out our recycling” (Feltman 2).  Straws are much harder to recycle than larger containers and such, so even if you think you’re recycling your straws, chances are that they’re falling through the machines and ending up as pollution in a landfill or body of water.

    Additionally, for those who still want their precious straws, there are many eco-friendly alternatives available today. The idea of ecofriendly straws is not new and “before there were plastic straws, there were paper straws. In fact, Marvin Stone created the very first straw by wrapping pieces of paper around a tube and gluing the pieces together. Paper straws, such as Aardvark straws, decompose in 45-90 days and provide an ecofriendly alternative to plastic straws” (SquareUp 4). Only after paper straws were plastic straws invented, and if we stuck with them, maybe the world would be a totally different place. Jonathan Kuhl of the D.C. Department of Public Works believes “‘the best way to keep plastic straws out of landfills is not to use them - whether you’re at home or at a restaurant,’ Kuhl says. ‘If you’d like to use a straw, there are paper and other nonplastic alternatives’” (Feltman 2). Not only do plastic straws pollute after use, the making of them also creates pollution and “straws are too ‘trivial’ of an item to be produced with oil. A ‘valuable and dwindling resource’” (Hill 3). Because of this, better materials could and should be used. A good sign of change coming is that “the market shift has been drastic enough that one of the largest makers of plastic straws in North America, Aardvark, said it produced seven times as many straws by mid-2018 as it had made by the same time last year. And the Indiana-based company expects to grow another seven-fold by the middle of 2019” (Rainey 2). This is great to see because it means more and more people and companies are switching to eco-friendly straw materials. Many researchers also “hope restaurants will begin providing paper, rye wheat, bamboo, reusable glass, steel or metal straws for eat-in dining” (N. Parker 4). If this is put into effect, a huge impact will be made.

    Further, with the use of reusable plastics, there are many long term benefits to the planet and those who use them. Over production has caused the main problem that “while convenient, plastic is not biodegradable - it does not break down into compounds (like carbon dioxide or water) that can be easily reused. Therefore, it takes years to break down plastic particles. Because of this, when plastic is not recycled and ends up in the ocean, it stays there, forever” (SquareUp 3). Over time, this plastic won’t stop to build up unless humans change their ways. Plastic is so long lasting that “if plastic had been invented when pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England to North America - and the Mayflower had been stocked with bottled water and plastic-wrapped snacks - their plastic trash would likely still be around, four centuries later (Parker 1). To think about the fact that plastic dating back to before the U.S. was a country would still be around today is crazy, but it’s the sad truth. Imagine the amount of plastic on earth today lasting that long; our planet is doomed.

    Equally important, plastic use wasn’t always such an environmental concern. Before plastic was invented, straws were completely natural and “in 19th-century America, straws were straw, rye stalks, cut and dried” (Madrigal 3). Straws were literal straws, as in the plants, which would easily break down into the environment after use, causing no problems. In 1888, the first artificial straw was invented and “workmen created these early artificial straws by winding paper around a thin cylindrical form, then covering them in paraffin” (Madrigal 3). Even these straws, which were very popular, were still able to completely break down into the earth within a few months. In the early 20th century, plastic was invented but no one knew of the horrible environmental effects of it and “since helping the Allies win World War II - think of nylon parachutes or lightweight airplane parts - plastics have transformed all our lives as a few other inventions have, mostly for the better” (Parker 3). Before it was a burden on the planet, plastics were incredibly useful in everyday life, as they still are for the most part.

    Moreover, today, one of the main ideas about straws is that they pollute our oceans. Currently, one of the main reasons “cited for eliminating plastic straws is their negative impact on our oceans and marine wildlife. Plastic in the ocean is a huge problem - look no further than trash island, or the viral video of a turtle suffering as a result of ocean pollution, to understand that” (SquareUp 2). These plastics are starting to really take a toll on our living creatures. Plastic on land is a huge issue but “meanwhile, ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by it. Some are harmed visibly - strangles by abandoned fishing nets or discarded six-pack rings. Many more are probably harmed invisibly. Marine species of all sizes, from zooplankton to whales, now eat microplastics,the bits smaller than one-fifth of an inch across” (Parker 2). Not only are we harming the animals who encounter plastic in the oceans, if they eat it and then we eat them, we are also consuming plastics. Scientists have now determined “it’s projected that by 2050 our oceans will have a larger volume of plastic than of fish” (Daniels 2). Oceans have always been the home of beautiful sea creatures, living freely in clear waters. Now, in just a few years, this vision will be completely compromised, when manmade pollutants are more common than fish in the fish’s home, like if there were more aliens than humans on earth at some point.

    Furthermore, if you’re still not convinced, there are multiple studies that have been done to show real facts. The most common number in news is that the “estimate of the amount of plastic spilling into the oceans is 8.8 million tons a year. That’s the equivalent of five grocery bags full of plastic along every foot of coastline in 192 countries, according to researchers” (Rainey 2). This is an incredible amount of pollution for only a single year on Earth, especially considering this number equates to each of the estimated 7.7 billion people on earth to be responsible for about 1.14 tons of this plastic, including babies. One of the most common numbers floating around different news outlets is the use of 500 million straws used each day by Americans. This however is “an estimate above the ranges of more rigorous studies. Market research firms put the figure between 170 million and 390 million per day, or 63 billion to 142 billion straws per year” (Chokshi 1). Regardless of the authenticity of this number, the president of the Foodservice Packaging Institute, Lynn Dyer, said “‘whether it’s 500 million or 500 a day, we shouldn’t lose sight of the real issue: Straws should be disposed of properly and should never, ever be littered on land or in waterways,’” (Chokshi 3). No matter the exact number of straws being used, anything is far too much.

    In addition, many international efforts have been made to aid the reduction of single use plastics. Some examples of this would include when “Kenya joined a growing list of nations that have banned plastic bags, imposing steep fines and jail time of violators. France said it would ban plastic plates and cups by 2020. Bans on plastic microbeads (they’re exfoliants) take effect this year in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and four other countries. The industry is phasing them out” (Parker 6). With all these bans in effect on other types of plastic, straws are bound to go next. Specific brands are also beginning to hop on the bandwagon and “McDonald’s in the UK has already begun the process of removing plastic straws from its stores and set a goal to have q00 percent of its food and beverage packaging materials be from renewable or recycled sources by 2025” (SquareUp 2). This will make a great impact, especially with the amount of McDonald’s stores visited every day. Another global brand switching to more environmentally kind packaging is Starbucks which is one of the first to “announce it will be moving away from plastic straws. In addition to switching to compostable straws, it will be releasing a new strawless drink lid design on its regular cold-drink cups” (SquareUp 2). With multiple big name brands making differences globally, the US will soon follow suit. The largest organization to hop on the trend is the European Union, who finalized “an agreement to reduce the use of single-use plastics, including straws, in all member countries by 2021” (Houck 2-3). With an entire continent beginning the process of waste reduction, the United States are bound to be next.

    Likewise, along with the international efforts, the United States have also made some reforms. In Los Angeles, a new plan to phase out plastic straws because “a two-year phaseout gives restaurants and bars the time they need to deplete their current inventory of plastic straws, and it gives the industry time to pioneer biodegradable and environmentally friendly alternatives for mass consumption” (Daniels 2). Although this is only one example in one city in the U.S., it is likely that this plan will inspire others around the country in the near future. Just near Los Angeles, “several other cities in California, including Malibu and San Francisco, have passed outright bans against the use of plastic straws as well as other single-use items, including plastic utensils” (Daniels 2). In California alone, huge strides are being made. Now we just need the rest of the world to get the memo. Also in California, at the beginning of 2019, “full-service restaurants in California will be banned from automatically giving customers plastic straws, though the law notably exempts some of the biggest straw users - fast-food restaurants, coffee shops, delis, and restaurants serving takeout” (Houck 2). By allowing people to only get straws if they want them, unnecessary waste will cut down by a huge fraction. In Oregon, “Portland city council members, encouraged by environmental activists and local restaurants that voluntarily eliminated straws, approved a new rule set to go into effect in July 2019 that slaps restaurants with a $500 fine if they automatically give customers plastic cutlery or straws” (Houck 2). All of these new restriction have already started a chain effect and hopefully the entire country will be on board soon.

    Some may argue that we don’t have anything to worry about. Some people surveyed said that straw advocacy is “just lame liberal activism that in the end is nothing” (Madrigal 2). This is heavily biased and can easily be countered with the fact that “now it’s in our drinking water. It’s in our seafood. It’s in sea salt. It’s even in the air we breathe” (Rainey 2). This information comes from John Hocevar, a credible marine biologist working with Greenpeace. Greenpeace is a non-governmental organization with offices in over 39 countries worldwide all based around the environment.

    Finally, there are cold facts to back up everything that’s been said. Our plastic problem is a relatively new topic in our world and “because plastic wasn’t invented until the late 19th century, and production really only took off around 1950, we have a mere 9.2 billion tons of the stuff to deal with. Of that, more than 6.9 billion tons have become waste. And of that waste, a staggering 6.3 billion tons never made it to a recycling bin - a figure that stunned the scientists who crunched the numbers in 2017” (Parker 1). With this amount of plastics on our planet in less than a century, and production rates only increasing, we have a serious problem. Additionally, “based on an analysis of trash collected on U.S. coastlines during cleanup over five years, it was found that there are nearly 7.5 million straws on America’s shorelines. There are figured to be about 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws on the entire world’s coastlines. And since they’re not biodegradable, they’re not going anywhere” (SquareUp 3). This poses a huge threat to oceans and land globally, possibly beginning to wipe out entire species.

    Finally, it may be concluded that plastic straws should be banned. This would have many good consequences to not only the earth as a whole, but also each person’s individual life. The earth would become healthier for the plants and animals that live on it and consumers and businesses that formerly used plastic straws would be saving money. A plastic straw ban would also promote other healthier living styles, such as decreasing the use of other single use plastic. The planet is dying from the amount of plastic pollution it currently holds. The ban of plastic straws would help to save our own lives.

Works Cited

Choski, Niraj. "How a 9-Year-Old Boy's Statistic Shaped a Debate on Straws." The New York Times, 19 July 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/19/business/plastic-straws-ban-fact-check-nyt.html Accessed 8 May 2019.

Daniels, Jeff. "Los Angeles moves forward on plan banning plastic straws, going further than California state law." CNBC, NBCUniversal, 4 Dec. 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/12/04/los-angeles-considers-outright-ban-on-plastic-straws.html Accessed 8 May 2019.

Feltman, Rachel. "Plastic straws are little, but they are part of a huge problem." The Washington Post, 9 Sept. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/plastic-straws-are-little-but-they-are-part-of-a-huge-problem/2018/09/07/63bfe44e-ac9f-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f8fdcab7c0b1 Accessed 8 May 2019.

Houck, Brenna. "How the Plastic Straw Ban Became the Biggest Trend of 2018." Eater, 27 Dec. 2018, www.eater.com/2018/12/27/18156734/plastic-straw-ban-biggest-trend-2018 Accessed 8 May 2019.

Madrigal, Alexis C. "Disposable America." The Atlantic, 21 June 2018, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/06/disposable-america/563204/ Accessed 8 May 2019.

Olson, Randy. "WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE'RE DROWNING IN IT." National Geographic, www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/ Accessed 8 May 2019.

"One Child's Outsized Influence On The Debate Over Plastic Straws." Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR, 22 July 2018, www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631254978/one-childs-outsized-influence-on-the-debate-over-plastic-waste Accessed 8 May 2019.

Parker, Najja. "Here's why people are ditching their plastic straws." The Atlanta Journal-Constitution [Atlanta], 9 July 2018, www.ajc.com/news/world/here-why-people-are-ditching-their-plastic-straws/F06hQv8rSbAPjeuCZfXvfJ/ Accessed 8 May 2019.

Rainey, James. "'Banning plastic straws will not be enough': The fight to clean oceans." NBC News, NBC, 30 Dec. 2018, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/banning-plastic-straws-will-not-be-enough-fight-clean-oceans-n951141 Accessed 8 May 2019.

SquareUp, squareup.com/townsquare/why-plastic-straws-are-being-banned. Accessed 8 May 2019.

Treat, Jason. "Fast facts about plastic pollution." National Geographic, 20 Dec. 2018, news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/05/plastics-facts-infographics-ocean-pollution/. Accessed 8 May 2019.