The last straw!

Tweet

After my lecture today, I decided that I deserved a little treat.   I headed over to McDonald's to get myself a Coke (and yes, Coke does taste better from McDonald's than anywhere else).  Once I filled up my cup, I dug into my purse to pull out my reusable metal straw.  It's finally a habit!

The Washington Post today included a great article on disposable straws, calling them the "gateway plastic" that numbs us to the ubiquitous use of "disposable" plastic in our everyday lives.  Did you know that Americans dispose of 500 million straws each day?  Think about all of the other plastics we also use and throw away each day.  These plastics are made with fossil fuels and don't biodegrade.  So what's a greenmomster to do?

• Read the Washington Post article for a little background on the topic
• Check out greenmomster's post on my plastic challenge
• Get yourself some reusable plastic straws (they're easy to find online!) and start using them.  Just say no to disposable straws, like the one above.  It'll become a habit before you know it.

Think of substituting reusable straws for disposable straws as your "gateway sustainability!"  Next stop -- meat-free Fridays, public transportation, and thrifting!

The Plastic Challenge!

Tweet

There's a new documentary out called STRAWS.  I'm hoping to see it soon -- here's the trailer:

This trailer inspired me! I love a good challenge, so my son and I decided to challenge one another this summer.  His weakness is single-use plastic bottles.  My weakness is straws.  So we bet one another that I'd give up straws and he'd give up single-use plastic water bottles.  The first one to break has to treat the other one to lunch at a favorite restaurant.

I think my son has it pretty easy.  All he has to do is fill one of our numerous water bottles in the morning and he's off!  So far so good!

For my challenge, I decided to start by buying some reusable straws -- I found them (where else?) on Amazon!

 

I put a couple of these in my purse and headed off, confident that I'd soon be enjoying a nice lunch with my son picking up the check!  Iced tea tasted great through my new reusable straw.

My first challenge came when I ordered a nice, thick chocolate milkshake. My straw was a little too thin for the thick, frosty treat.  What's a greenmomster to do?  Eat it with a spoon! OK, it wasn't the ideal solution, since the spoon was made of plastic, but I'm going with the letter of the law, rather than the spirit on this one.

Still glowing from my straw superiority, I started getting a little cocky.  With my trusty reusable straw, I knew I wouldn't be stopped by a simple iced tea, water, or soda.  But as they say, pride goeth before a fall.  And here's what led to my downfall:

Sadly, my trusty reusable straw was just too thin to allow me to suck up the bubbles in my boba tea.  And I love my milk green tea with boba.  I guess I'm buying lunch, but it was so worth it.  And the bet is back on -- I'm going to win the next round!