You may be noticing that many wonderful restaurants and companies around you are participating in #StrawlessSummer. Of course, we know as intelligent human beings, that plastics, such as straws, are the enemy. But do we really understand why that is? Let's take a deeper look.
Straws, for instance, are "single-use plastics" as they are generally used once and then tossed into the garbage. This sort of plastic is nonbiodegradable and doesn't actually break down for hundreds of years. With that being said, imagine how often you use a straw and discard it right after into the trash. Now, imagine all those straws x the population of straws from every other human being's lifetime sitting in the landfill for hundreds of years. Yikes.
"Hey, but aren't straws recyclable?"
Think again. Although most straws are able to be recycled, a vast majority of plastic straws are too small and lightweight that they do not make it through the recycling sorter and therefore, find their way into the landfill. So even if you had every intention of recycling and doing your part for precious Mother earth, you may have just wronged her.
But, the biggest and most impactful issue we see with these straws are right in our own oceans. StrawlessOcean.org informs us on how "an estimated 71% of seabirds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastics in their stomachs. When they ingest plastic, marine life has a 50% mortality rate". A 50% mortality rate. Marine life has half a chance of living after they consume our trash simply because we as humans cannot stop sucking. It has been brought to my attention that as a whole, we use an upward of 500 million straws every day in America. And according to StrawlessOcean.org, at this straw-obsessed rate, our oceans will be filled with more plastic than fish by the year 2050. Let's just keep in mind that that's about 30 years away… If you're not freaking out, you're not educating yourself enough.
How can you really help?
Ditch. The. Straw.
More and more business are joining their community in the Strawless Summer movement because we are finally seeing the negative impact that these plastics have on our environment and health as well. The thing is, we can't stop here. Three months being straw-free is great and all, but what we really need to do is stop forever. With reusable straws on the market, there is simply no excuse to be using a single-use plastic straw these days. And the effort does not have to stop at straws! Become mindful of what other nonreusable plastics you find yourself purchasing at the store. Whether it be shampoo and conditioner bottles, drinks in plastic bottles, and even the plastic bags that the cashier bags for you. It may sound tedious at first, but remember why you're doing it. This earth is our home and we need to treat it as such.
This summer, vow to yourself and challenge someone else to #StopSucking. And allow this positive change to continue even after Summer comes and goes.
