How do you feel about paper straws? Have you heard of it? Is it common where you come from?

[EssieEsmerelda]

So i went to wimpy the other day and they gave me a paper straw again. This is a very pity thing to rant about but i just hate paper straws. It makes everything taste funny and it's texture on my lips give me chills. It goes soggy after a while and it's just gross. I'm all for limiting the hazards to the environment. But rather give people options like give the paper straw for free and if you want a plastic straw you have to buy it. I can't walk around with my own box of plastic straws cuz that would be very weird. It's a relatively new thing in South Africa. Not all restaurants have implemented it. Only the restaurants i go to.

No I haven't heard of it

Yes I've heard of it and love it

Yes heard of it and hate it

Doesn't phase me. Paper or plastic who cares?

[MlleCake]

They are getting very common around here. I like them. It reminds me of the old days.

One restaurant uses these very long uncooked pasta tubes. Those are a little weird.

I am happy for us to work on using less plastic in general.

I live near enough to the ocean that one can often see the bad effects of plastic trash.

I'd rather we only use disposable plastics for things like syringes and IV bags and other medical uses.

[Wonderer89]

100% all for it, mainly because humans biologically have a natural solution to the paper straw dilemma. Your lips. You don’t NEED a straw and people who are lying to themselves for convenience and killing the environment. Single use plastics are out of control, and it’s all because we’re lazy and let our sooky preferences get in the way of social responsibility

[dantetheexplorer]

That's why I feel people should just buy one stainless steel straw and carry it everywhere. It's also not that expensive, when you take in the long-term effect on the environment.

Maybe I should open a Stainless Steel Straw Club.

[EssieEsmerelda]

I'll be a member of your club. didn't even know steel straws where a thing

[EssieEsmerelda]

Dude i saw a stainless steel straw !

[dantetheexplorer]

How much?
They're aren't that expensive when you factor into account the environmental costs of plastic straws.

[EssieEsmerelda]

They were R35 which is next to nothing. I dont know which country you are from but one dollar is R16 so yeah not expensive at all.

[dantetheexplorer]

There you go. Affordable and good for the environment AND you can carry it around with you. Go get it :)

[EssieEsmerelda]

I will. It is so thin tho but it will be cool if i go someplace and rip my steel straw out of my purse and be all cool and everything. I saw a golden one and a silver one. But i want a silver one

[dantetheexplorer]

Yes. You could also use it as a weapon if you get attacked.

[EssieEsmerelda]

Haha yeah well i guys i could but i dont see what damage it can do unless i poke someone eye out?

[dantetheexplorer]

Yeah. That's what you can use it for. Think of it as a cylindrical chopstick :)

[EssieEsmerelda]

I actually wore chopsticks in my hair this holiday to defend myself. Luckily i didn't have to use it cuz i would've hurt myself. I have numchucks in my car. And i also don't know how to use them. But if someone tries to highjack me they will get a fright if i whip out my numchucks and make karate noises. Dont you think?

[NYCQuestions1976]

We can send shit to other planets all over the solar system and find the Titanic at the bottom of the ocean, but we can't mass produce a straw that lasts less than 5 million years and more than 5 minutes.

[NYCQuestions1976]

Thanks for Most Helpful.

[Red_Arrow]

Plastic has become an environmental disaster. America was recycling plastic by selling it to China, but they can no longer handle the huge amounts and have stopped taking it. Plastic takes a bazillion years to break down. So the plastic that is no longer being recycled is being tossed as garbage and not breaking down. And a lot is ending up in the ocean and we now have thousands of square miles of plastic floating on and in the ocean that will not break down, and that is killing sea life.

It makes no difference if you pay for a plastic straw, it still will not biodegrade and is killing our planet. The paper straws that are being produced last longer than they would normally be used for drinking, and do not hurt the environment. And I have not come across any that taste funny.

[DJB72]

There isn't an option for me to click this time.

Growing up for me, paper straws were the norm. Plastic was the exception. We had glass bottles of Coke with steel caps. Glass milk bottles delivered to the door by a milk man driving an electric milk float. The milk bottles had aluminium tops and we collected the foil to give to the guide dogs for the blind who recycled it - probably back into milk bottle tops.

Glass bottles - heavy, tempered glass that could drop without shattering - for babies to drink milk from. That's cow's milk. Sweetened with honey. Aged 3-4 months. Like humans did for thousands of years before governments decided they knew more than 200,000 years of experience.

So your paper straw goes soggy. Either buy a metal one you can reuse or ditch the straw and drink directly from the cup - that's better for oral hygiene anyway!

[Phanta]

I hear you and I would hate to encounter a paper straw. Thankfully, a paper straw and I have never met. I haven't used a straw in a long time but I plan on buying some plastic straws today until I can go back to the dentist to re-cement my crown that fell out. Paper straws would actually be good for the environment because of careless people who litter. But for my household, we throw all plastic into the recycling bin.

[witherwing]

Yes, I have heard of paper straws and used them. It's pretty common. I don't see any problems with it. I don't use them for that long that they would go soggy and I don't feel any difference with my mouth. Although I prefer not to use a straw at all.

[BlueWalker]

I have heard of paper straws, but I think all straws, regardless of what they are made of, should be banned. They are totally unneeded and they are a surprisingly large waste of plastic (or paper/trees) every year. Just drink out of the cup.

[Redstang88]

I’m not a tree hugger by any means, but I think this is a big step in the right direction.
Plastic is one of the biggest environmental disasters out there, and and any measures to cut down on the volume of plastic that is pointlessly used is good.

[Anonymous]

I've never tested it.
Even if it's more bad than plastic, I wouldn't complain, because it's beneficial for the nature. Well, the straw is made out of cellulose, so... But still better than plastic.

[PondyPand]

I'd just buy my own, or get some. metal ones they're now bringing out

[ChocolateCheesecake]

Never heard of the paper straw before i'd rather just not use any.

[Anonymous]

i think i'd rather go with NO straw than use paper ones. But they are making a big push to require them all over the place so I guess we better get used to it.

[Rick912]

When I was growing up, all we had was paper straws. They get wet and collapse and then don't work real well.

[Anonymous]

Mine always unravel.

The paper forks are worse. My chipotle started using them and half the taste in my mouth when i try to eat is just wood taste.

[esotericstory]

All our straws are plastic. Never seen a paper straw.

[Anonymous]

Shame on any PC restaurant that switches from plastic straws to paper.

[Anonymous]

Paper straws do not work

[Anonymous]

I HATE THEM STUPID PAPER STRAWS.

[Razal]

I have used them and they are OK

[Mexicoman101]

I use metal straws.