There’s no doubt – we produce massive amounts of plastic waste just to sip on beverages. The good news? You can easily avoid plastic by opting for reusable straws. Glass straws in particular offer the same great experience as plastic straws – minus all the environmental impact. Even better, there are a variety of straw perks to make the switch even easier.
Why switch to glass straws?
You may be thinking, “It’s just a little plastic straw – how bad can that be?” The reality is that we are facing a full-blown plastic pollution crisis. Plastic has replaced more sustainable materials like glass, metal and wood as the main material for many products. It’s cheap and easy to make, and we can throw it away after one use.
In fact, single-use plastic makes a huge difference 40% of all plastics produced each year. That means almost half of all plastic is made specifically to be thrown away after minutes of use, from food packaging to plastic straws.
Plastic production is also increasing rapidly. Half of all plastic ever made was made in the last 15 years. It is expected to double between 2015 and 2050.
So – what’s so bad about plastic? Can’t we just recycle it? Plastic is made from fossil fuels, which in itself is a polluting industry. Additionally, we don’t recycle plastic the way we should. Only over 8.7% Plastic is recycled in the US. Only 9% of the world’s plastic that is no longer used has been recycled since 1950.
Instead, plastic ends up in landfills, where it will take hundreds of years to break down into microplastics. It can also be incinerated, increasing its carbon footprint, or dumped into oceans and other natural environments. As a matter of fact, 8 million tons Plastic waste enters the oceans every year, where many animals mistake it for food and cause life-threatening health problems.
There’s good news: you can say no to single-use plastic and…
