Paper straws suck!

[jovan]

Not to go off subject but StillShaving mentions the Dictatorship of the Small Minority. Early this year BMW had a commercial banned in the UK. They had 12 million likes and 1 dislike. BANNED. Talk about a minority.

As for the straws here in California it is a joke. I go to In-N-Out burger and stock up on plastic straws and then take them with me to the restaurants that have paper straws and replace them in my drinks. Have you ever had a Bloody Mary with a paper straw? Horrible taste and they fall apart in minutes. I thought I was the only one and the waitress at one restaurant said it is nearly 90% that bring their own straws.

Yes in California and other places in the World the small minority rules and the rest of us suffer. Until they awake and realize the joke that is being played on them I will continue to bring my own straws and enjoy my drinks.

 

[Ad Astra]

I actually have a titanium straw ... somewhere.

Not because I don't think the law is ridiculous, but because I like titanium.

Continental drift should take care of this all-important straw issue.


AA

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

Thanks to the spate of plastic straw bannings throughout North America, I can sleep easier at night knowing my moral and intellectual betters have solved all the more important problems in the world today.
/sarc off

The next time someone in your circle of friends mentions the fact that five hundred million plastic straws are used every day, feel free to correct them. That “five hundred million used” stat was dreamed up by a nine year old kid who saw restaurant patrons discard unused straws which got him wondering just exactly how much was being wasted every day. Unable to find stats, Milo Cress called some manufacturers who gave him yearly manufacturing numbers, which young Milo divided by 365 and voila, five hundred million! Not used plastic straws, but manufactured plastic straws. By the way, kudos to young Milo for doing some real investigative work by actually calling manufacturers...something most real journalists are too lazy to investigate themselves.
Milo’s suggestion was to have servers ask if their patrons would like a straw supplied, thus cutting down the number of wasted product. Actually, a damn good idea.
Yet the five hundred million number persists and has been taken up by the enviro-weenies to the point cities are putting plastic straws at the top of their Public Enemy List along with “single use” grocery store plastic bags, which if you’re like me go beyond being “single use” (and those filthy cloth bags...don’ get me started...okay, I’ll start...my wife is forever amused by my hyper-vigilance in laundering these things...but we put the meat in the plastic bags that are on rollers throughout the meat section, she’ll say, and that any juices are contained in the bags during our grocery trip...huh, plastic bags, seems kinda redundant to use plastic bags to protect cloth bags, eh?).
Much more personal for me is the fact the banning of these five hundred million plastic straws affects a nephew who has special needs and a buddy of mine who’s quadriplegic. Both require straws to drink, and not just beverages but the puréed beyond belief “food”. Several weeks ago when some do-gooder addressed city council on the plastic straw issue, I asked the wife of my wheelchair-bound buddy about it. She shook her head and said without a plastic straw her husband wouldn’t cope. Well, what about metal straws as the banning proponents say is the solution? “Have you tried to properly clean a straw?” The assisted living facility he resides in has over two hundred residents. Imagine having to clean and sterilize, say, six hundred or so of these metal straws every day...hey, Milo, what’s the actual number? Not to mention the possibility that for some residents a metal straw would be injurious to them.
Does your use, or misuse of a plastic straw amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world? Consider that eight rivers contain ninety percent of plastic waste in the world, and oddly, none of them in what is commonly referred to as the “first world”...the Nile and the Niger in Africa, the Yangze, Yellow, Haihe, and Mekong in China, and the Ganges and Indus in India.
Now that we’ve addressed this problem can we focus on what really matters?
Should the Blue Jays call up Vladdy Guerrero, Jr.?

 

[Esox]

Continental drift should take care of this all-important straw issue.

You are the patient one lol.

 

[kenhsv]

Hmmm. So a friend of mine in California brought up an interesting question? What happens to an undocumented person bootlegging plastic straws??

 

[jovan]

Porgy Tirebiter is the second person to mention about Milo being the only research done on the plastic straw issue. The previous time I heard he was like twelve years old. I however feel for those who need plastic straws to cope and live. I use to work in a Nursing Home and yes they need plastic straws. Metal and paper are a waste for them and way too much work. Hopefully these Straw Banning advocates will understand that there is a need for these and allow them to keep using them. Otherwise they should get a job at a Nursing Facility and wash those metal ones. Watch how fast they become an advocate for plastic.

 

[Esox]

I would think an autoclave would do for sterilization purposes of a metal type straw.

A quick rinse and in they go. That could even be automated and would quite likely save money long term.

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

jovan, it’s a matter of quality of life for many of these folks who are afflicted. For my nephew who was born with Cat’s Cry syndrome, even a sippy cup is not an option (and this guy who wasn’t supposed to see his thirteenth birthday will soon be celebrating his 25th!). Having seen firsthand the efforts put in by assisted living employees, I fully appreciate the dedication to details they offer...not every place is featured on 60 Minutes!
The solution is simple, as young Milo originally suggested. Give the consumer the option of accepting or declining a plastic straw at the point of purchase. Let private enterprise dictate the solution, not government. It’s worked out quite nicely in the past.

 

[Raissermesser]

Weeks ago I vaguely recall reading about the plastic straw issue. Because of their shape I believe there were legitimate concerns about them getting caught up various marine environments and causing damage. So some coastal cities decided to ban them (southern California taking the lead). Which is great, but I think that has very little to do with people living inland, with sufficient trash disposal and sewage treatment.

I suspect, though, that more plastic by weight comes from bottles than straws. My natural cynicism twitches because those responsible for the ban probably think they're really reducing a lot of plastic, when they'd hit more by banning plastic bottles. My cynicism pegs when I suspect they chose plastic straws simply to look like they're addressing the issue, and plastic straw companies were less likely to push back.

Has anyone weighed the new Starbucks top and compared it to the weight of a standard plastic top and straw?

 

[Raissermesser]

I was going to make a real suggestion for a non-plastic paper alternative, but maybe I should work on it myself ...

 

[jovan]

Burce, you put it in the words I could not think of...a quality of life issue. Thanks.

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

My natural cynicism twitches because those responsible for the ban probably think they're really reducing a lot of plastic, when they'd hit more by banning plastic bottles. My cynicism pegs when I suspect they chose plastic straws simply to look like they're addressing the issue, and plastic straw companies were less likely to push back.

Thanks, Raissermesser. I believe the symptom you refer to is called “virtue signalling”. Once again the raison d’tre (sp?) of our perpetually aggrieved moral and intellectual betters.

 

[Ad Astra]

Hmmm. So a friend of mine in California brought up an interesting question? What happens to an undocumented person bootlegging plastic straws??

Is this person a waiter? "Intent to distribute" is key!

AA

 

[Toothpick]

Oh wow. So this is a legitimate thing in California? They have actually banned plastic straws and imposed fines and jail time?

Not plastic water bottles. Or plastic cups. Or even styrofoam....they went after plastic straws.....

Plastic. Straws.

Straws.

I...I can’t even....

 

[Porgy Tirebiter]

Yes, Toothpick...it’s Robert Heinlein’s world.
We just happen to live in it.

To paraphrase Instapundit...

 

[Toothpick]

No clue who this Robert guy is. Or Instapundit

 

[Night Cap]

Thought of this.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Seraphim]

In my town, no word of a lie, it is against the law to sell individual sized bottles of water.

Marijuana is legal (Massachusetts), water is not.

 

[Seraphim]

And to whom ever mentioned it above, yes, another BIG issue is the way a paper straw ruins the flavor.

 

[jovan]

Jason you know I live in LA. YES this is a real law. Waiters and waitresses are scared of the under cover detectives that enforce the law might catch them giving a straw when the customer does not request one.