The “Say no to straws” campaign is not new, it has been going on for a while in the USA and has come to have a strong voice in Mexico but no person living in any other country should make the mistake to think that if there is no campaign about it in their country, it is not a problem there, environmental issues are global, regardless of the place you live in, here is why:
Although seemingly harmless and appealing, the useful life of a straw lasts for about 15-20 minutes while it’s environmental impact lasts longer than a lifetime.
We are used to the presence of straws in our life since we are children, in packed juices, milk, soft drinks, milkshakes and as adults in restaurants and bars, straws are always there, we have accepted it and consume them without even thinking about it (Red Flag!)
One adult person consumes an average of 38,000 straws in their lifetime, multiply that by 7 billion and don’t be amazed if 30 years from now there is more plastic than living beings on this planet.
If you still think that using straws is not something you should care and do something about, you might need to know that the UN has reported that the ocean contains at least 18 thousand fragments of plastic per square kilometer and at least ONE MILLION COAST BIRDS, ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MAMMALS AND SEA TURTLES DIE EVERY YEAR due to plastic residue in the ocean.
And just to make it clear, this planet (the only one we have so far) is conformed mainly by ocean and it is water what makes our life possible. If the ocean dies…we follow. This is not a forecast, this is already happening!
It is as easy as to stop using straws, in reality even if we are used to them we don’t need them. A nice juice or a cocktail can certainly be drank without a straw, I promise.
Several governments in Mexico and the USA are either debating or have approved laws to ban the use of plastic straws in restaurants and businesses.
But, what about children’s drinks? They need the straw, you might say, well, buy a reusable non-plastic bottle and send the drink in this presentation, pre-packed drinks for kids are only sugar and poison anyway! why would you want your child to put that in their body?
And what about hospitals? or people with motor limitations that needs straws? Well, there are a lot of options nowadays that replace plastic, you can acquire re-usable glass or metal straws or biodegradable straws made out of recycled cardboard, seaweed or organic materials.
In Mexico, two 15 year old school girls from Chiapas made a biodegradable straw out of mango peel. They learned that one single plastic straw can last on this planet over 150 years and decided to do something about it. They get the mango peel for free from local markets because it’s trash and they transform it into straws that will degrade into the environment without polluting. Although their innovation is seen more like a cute anecdote than taken seriously by the government or the big companies that could fund them, this is only the beginning of a new culture and it’s time to adapt to it.
Another mexican innovator is already selling biodegradable and compostable straws, forks, spoons, knifes and many plastic substitutes at a big scale, all made out of avocado seed. These products are already available in supermarkets and stores in Mexico, USA, Sweeden, Canada and Central America.
Where to get biodegradable straws?
Mexico based (ships to USA): https://www.biofase.com.mx/shop
USA based: https://www.goodstartpackaging.com/about-good-start-packaging/
Europe (UK based): https://paperstraws.co/
No further doubt, a life without plastic straws is a better life for humanity.
-Cristina GS
