It’s common knowledge that the planet is slowly dying. Global warming, pollution, ect. All this is partially caused by many little things that are usually made of plastics and that we use everyday ; plastic Ziploc bags ™, plastic bottles and mostly plastic straws. Allow me to explain all the damages they cause but mostly, let me show you the solution to the problem.

First of all, plastic straws are made out of polypropylene which requires a lot of energy and a lot of natural resources to extract. Not only does this item need a lot of energy to be produced but it also takes forever to travel to us. Plastic straws take more than 200 years to decompose. The worst part is that we use about 16 million straws made of plastic daily! This item is also not reusable and not recycled. That means that we have to throw them away in landfills and incinerators. Plastic straws usually come contained in plastic packaging. I personally think that it’s outrageous to use and waste a ton of plastic on something we can only use once.

Now, let’s talk about a solution to reduce the damages that we do to the Earth. There are so many alternatives. First, we can make a homemade version of this item. To make paper straws, we need towels, scrapbooking paper, a little bit of glue and paraffin wax. Now that’s a creative alternative! We can take that as an activity to do as a family or with friends, plus it’s saving the planet! You have nothing to lose doing that. Or, for the lazy or busy ones, we can buy different types of straws with a no footprint alternative like bamboo straws, metal straws or paper straws. But when we think about it… do we really need straws? Personally, I don’t think we actually need them. But if you want to get straws for an event as an example, I recommend to buy the ones I showed you.

To conclude, plastic straws are dangerous for the planet so please use an alternative! Remember, saving the planet is a choice and there’s plenty of ways to do it. And you, how would you contribute?

By Enola Christophe

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