What are the cheapest alternatives to disposable plastic straws?

GreatApe

PLA is the most likely replacement. It biodegrades in 6-24 months in the environment but it costs some 2.5x normal plastic

You are looking at 0.5p more per straw
Or roughly 35p per person in additional costs per year

However I would say for at least the fast food industry they should switch from their paper/plastic hybrid cups to cans without straws. This should also save costs in not needing soda machines in fast food outlets instead they would just need simple fridge to keep the cans in. I think this would be more efficient but it looks less premium to offer your customers cans rather than those soda machine filled paper plastic cups so would require regulations to make it happen

ajbell

Ivory makes good straws as does condor leg bones and rhino horn.
The good thing about using the above is they degrade so you can just throw them in the ocean and get some more.

[Deleted User]

I don't normally comment on MSE, but the email about banning straws made me cringe, roll my eyes and shudder. Nobody's perfect, but the more we know the more we can change. It's not the earth that will suffer, it's mankind.

lesbro wrote: »

We use plastic straws as we have a large packet for the grandchildren, but we wash them and put in the re-cycling.

And they still end up in landfill, the ocean, and use considerable amount of fossil fuels to manufacture, transport and maybe even get recycled if you're lucky.

MovingForwards wrote: »

Reusable straws, even as a kid I had a plastic resuable one and I am sure my mom still has it!

Isn't this funny? I bet many of us do. But yet the convenience of consumerism and today's paranoid society has somehow convinced us buying new ones is perfectly acceptable behaviour.


How's this for MSE?
Just think, if we spent less time on consumption we'd have more time with our families, having fun, not stressing etc, all because you require less time at work to fund your impossible dreams based on impossible standards, designed around manipulating you. That's what MSE is all about right? No debt, no stress, and more family, sport, and healthy time?

If you disagree, are curious, don't understand, or just would like to discuss, feel free to PM me :cool:

[edit]
I should probably add for PC that i'm not against straws for enabling those who require them. But am certainly against the notion that straws somehow protect your teeth.

Hexane

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

Paper staws still use resorces and from trees that take a long time to grow.

This is slightly misleading. Sustainable forestry for producing paper is a cost-driven business based on planting the trees that will be required for the end product. Paper producers (or at least the kind that people frequenting this forum will be buying from) do not go around looking for a fresh virgin rainforest to chop down. Instead they have managed forests expressly for the purpose. If the trees take a long time to grow, they will simply plant more trees - a lot more trees - in order to make sure they always have enough raw materials ready to go. And they choose fast-growing timber which is beneficial because the faster it grows, the more climate-changing CO2 it removes from the atmosphere (admittedly it all goes back in eventually).

Now there is still the argument that some of these huge managed forests are on land that would never naturally have had such forests on them. And it's still usually true that a re-useable item will have less environmental impact than a single-use item (even from sustainable forestry).

But it's also a question of how far one is willing to go. I was watching a TV programme recently about sheep farmers on the Yorkshire moors, who have been farming like that for generations. There is an argument that we should all stop eating meat, put those sheep farmers out of business, throw them off their land that they've farmed for generations, and re-wild their "unnatural" hill pastures for environmental benefit. All environmentally sound, but not sure it would be very popular.

Likewise I plan to continue using single-use paper-based toilet roll (from the sustainable forests that I mentioned) even though I know that there are alternative ways of achieving the same end. The used toilet roll can't be recycled, just like tissue paper can't be recycled (please don't put tissue paper in your recycling, it risks contaminating an entire recycling load and having the whole truckload of potentially recyclable paper sent to landfill instead). Maybe this is a change I should be willing to make for the sake of the environment, but that's not what I've decided.

Sorry for the off topic diversion, just wanted to address the point about slow-growing trees and cover a couple of related points along the way.

Back on topic, is it possible to find waxed paper straws that are made from recycled materials?

kevin52

100 paper straws for £1.75 at IKEA

1961Nick

I can't remember the last time I used a straw...plastic, paper or otherwise?....Can someone tell me why we actually need them:undecided

couriervanman

1961Nick wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I used a straw...plastic, paper or otherwise?....Can someone tell me why we actually need them:undecided

Well they save your teeth from a hammering if you like the odd fizzy drink

Andy_WSM

1961Nick wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I used a straw...plastic, paper or otherwise?....Can someone tell me why we actually need them:undecided

Some people have disabilities that means drinking with a straw is easier. Some people have sensitive gums which means drinking a cold drink is uncomfortable without a straw. I'm sure there are lots of other reasons.

downliner

McDonalds have changed from plastic to paper straws and i'm not sure what it is but it just feels awful to drink a milkshake with a damp paper straw.