Drinking Straws

[lightningclix]

I am in charge of fundraising for our high school band and we are having a bazaar this month. One of my vendors makes and sells glass drinking straws here in the Pacific Northwest. I never really thought much about the whole plastic drinking straw issues...until I did some looking into it!

What are your thoughts?  Which drinking straw do you prefer?

1) Plastic
2) Glass
3) Stainless Steel
4) Bamboo

Here are some fun facts I found while doing some research

Plastic Straws

The straws which might come with your cold soft drink or hot tea/coffee, are made from plastic. A chemical used to make plastic straws can mimic the activity of hormones, such as estrogen, in the body, which can lead to reproductive disorders, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity and other conditions.This risk is compounded when combined with heat, as warmer temperatures cause more compounds to leak out into food.
BPA free plastic straws can add other hormone-altering substances into the foods and drinks you and your family are consuming. Glass straws do not contain these harmful substances, you eliminate this risk when switching from plastic to glass straws.

Stainless Steel
There is much controversy over stainless steel straws as a good substitute for the plastic straw. Issues you may find with these metal straws are they can heat up or become very cold quickly, so the outside of the straw on you lids feel like it is burning or freezing. In addition there are many types of stainless steel; some have toxic metals combined within the stainless steel. When heated up these toxins can leach into your drink. Of course the obvious is that you can not see inside these straws to be sure they are clean and ready to us.

Bamboo Straws

This alternative is an unusual one but oh so natural! Bamboo drinking straws are eco-friendly and made from real whole bamboo stalks, however mildew which is a kind of mold that's particularly hard to get rid of once it starts loves the inside of straws.  It may be harder to get out of bamboo straws because you can not see through the bamboo and it does not dry easily. 

The other benefit of glass straws is that they are far more environmentally friendly. Traditional plastic straws are one-time-use, and cannot be recycled, so they wind up in landfills and our oceans as little micro-particles. This is when our fish end up eating them and we end up eating the fish with plastic. It is a scary cycle.

While one individual straw doesn’t create an environmental disaster, it’s the scale that creates an issue - in the United States alone, over 500 million disposable plastic straws are used and thrown away every year. You can wash and reuse glass straws, you won’t be contributing to the waste.

[ghunter]

I like plastic straws

[countrygirl12]

I did not read all of your post. I do not see a problem with plastic straws. I do use them.  They are not a problem. It is sad that people think straws are a problem but thing styrofoam is alright or other things.

I have never heard of glass straws.  I have heard of stainless steel straws and saw those at Walmart.  As well as reusable plastic ones.  That is all well and good until you have black mold growing inside of the straw because they do not get properly cleaned.

[vickysue]

We use the reusable straws and  wash them every day. I use pipe cleaners that just fit inside the straws, and a little bleach in my dishwasher, they are  always nice and clean of course I also wash the  glasses  in the bleach water too. Nothing like having them clean. And saving money. We do use the plastic straws that are thrown away.

[LaTashaS28]

I prefer plastic straws because I can throw them away after I use it, and get a new one

[pkrahmer]

i don't use straws that often
i have never heard of glass straws. They don't seem like a good option for me.
i have never seen reusable straws but they sound like a good alternative.
i think in a pinch i would still prefer the plastic straw.

[cathy37]

I like plastic straws for anything that is in a take out cup.  I have a stainless steel cup that has a stainless steel straw that I use all the time at home.  I'm not so sure about glass straws because what happens if they break in your mouth.  You could get hurt really bad.

[kvanwert]

I use stainless steel straws. The ones I bought came with a cleaning stick that I use to clean them after every use. I don't drink hot drinks with a straw so I am not concerned about anything related to the heat.

[kathleenkleinhans]

Just cant believe how correct we have become about everything.  I dislike paper straws as the come off in your mouth.  I am not familiar with any others except plastic, and if disposed of properly they are fine by me!

[BATISTAGIRL663]

I like the plastic straws to but I have two of the glass straws that I use regularly when I’m taking my own drink to work because it is taller than normal straws and it fits in my cup better

[dancer139]

I will use what ever is given to me....  I have not bought the steel ones or the other kind  so I'm not picky

[jkhanson]

I had not heard of glass straws.  They seem dangerous due to potential breakage and getting slivers of glass in my mouth/throat.

Stainless seem like a good option.  Just need to clean them with a pipe cleaner of the specially designed brush that comes with some of them.

Plastic straws and all plastic are very convenient one-time use items, but so much of plastic has ended up in the oceans.  There are CONTINENT size floating plastic "islands" floating in our oceans already.  Some shores are so littered with plastic that all you see as the waves roll in is rolling plastic.

https://phys.org/news/2018-03-pacific-plastic-dump-larger.html

[bremer51]

I use plastic straws that are washable and reusable.  Glass sounds risky especially for children.  Throwaway plastics are going to kill us all.

[bretay]

ive only seen plastic and use that one...hve heard of the stainess steel..

[ccandpam]

I prefer to use Plastic Straws. That is all that was available to me when I was growing up. I do not an issue with Plastic Straws. They are individually wrapped which means they are clean and sanitized and I prefer Plastic over the others.