Reduce Plastic, Don’t Ban It [OPINION]

Plastic consumption is becoming an increasing environmental issue. One of the ways that people are attempting to combat this by decreasing one’s use of plastic. A recent trend is restaurants decreasing plastic by getting rid of straws. However, this solution is not the easy fix. Restaurants need to still provide straws for its customers.

Plastic has become a large issue as it can take anywhere from 400 to 1,000 years to decompose. Good inductive A lot of plastic is not put through recycling and some plastics cannot be recycled in the recycling that we can put in the recycling bin for pick-up which creates its own hassle.

Numerous different movements have been going on in order to attempt to reduce this consumption. Grocery stores have been moving to utilize reusable bags and recently, reusable straws have been an up-and-coming trend.

Restaurants have been not offering straws with their drinks. This has greatly cut down the use of this plastic. However, getting rid of these single use plastics is not something we should be doing.

Some people heavily rely on plastic straws to be able to drink.

For typical people, the difference is not a big deal. For some with disabilities, not having straws can put a huge damper on whether or not people can drink independently without the assistance of someone else.

There are numerous different alternatives to straws that are hitting the market. Metal straws have been around for several years and silicone straws have been another alternative. Another invention came about that is a collapsible straw that is about the same size as a key fob on a keychain.

But is it the responsibility of someone to bring their own reusable straws to different establishments, especially when the establishment has previously have provided single use plastic straws in the past?

The Americans with Disabilities Act mandated in 1990 that public establishments had to be able to accommodate those with disabilities. Providing plastic straws or a viable alternative such as the silicone straws would only help these people.

Although there are all of these numerous alternatives to straws, it should not rely on the consumer to provide this. This should continue to be a courtesy of the restaurant as it has been.

There is a plastic epidemic going on that is creating large problems for the environment. The plastic cut down should be just that, a cut down. This does not have to be an altogether ban.

Reducing the use of plastic helps. If you do not need to use a straw to drink a beverage, you can request to not use a straw. Just because you do not want to utilize a single use straw does not mean that it needs to be the industry standard to ban plastic straws at restaurants.

There is a large portion of people who are stating that there needs to be a ban on plastic straws, but they are not realizing the larger issue. The issue is overall plastic consumption. Single use plastic adds up incredibly.

The idea is not to stop from people using straws. The idea is to cut down on overall plastic usage. There are many ways that this can be achieved:

• If you do not need to use a straw, then do not use a straw.
• Bring your own reusable bags to the store.
• Use reusable cups instead of plastic to-go cups.
• Use reusable Tupperware instead of sandwich and snack bags.
• Stop buying bulk packs of water bottles.
• Do not use disposable razors.
• Choose cardboard containers over plastic and Styrofoam whenever possible.
• Use face wash that does not utilize microplastics.
• Use cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers.
• Utilize reusable feminine products rather than discarding packaging every time a new tampon or pad is used.
• Avoid disposable cutlery.
• Buy bar soap and shampoo.
• Use matches instead of disposable plastic lighters.
• Give up gum.
• Avoid buying food that uses excessive plastic wrapping.
• Be conscious when picking out a toothbrush.
• Use wire hangers.
• Use cloth clothes hampers.
• Read the paper online.
• Line your garbage cans with paper bags or biodegradable bags.
• Shop local.
• Shop in bulk.
• Be mindful of your cleaning materials.

When this is not possible, recycle whenever you can. There does not need to be an overall ban, just a reduction where possible. If restaurants want to ditch the plastic straw, they should look into flexible, silicone straws to assist those who need that service.