Are sustainable straws really good for planet Earth?
In order to reduce the use of plastic, made from the old non-sustainable oil, one can use some ecological straws to sip their favorite beverage.
We can find mainly two categories of so-called "ecological straws": reusable or not.
Reusable straws are made from durable materials, such as steel, reed or bamboo. In the package, you will usually find a tapered cleaning brush to keep your pipe neat day after day, and a small bag to transport them in your pocket, assuring that you will always have them when you need, at friends or at a bar.
Non-reusable straws can be made from sugar, pasta, apple, cane, wheat or paper and cardboard.
No problem with reed, apple, cane or bamboo, which are compostable after their end of life. Nature goes back to nature. Here, the same destination is promised to both reusable and single-use natural straws.
Is it worth buying bamboo straws? Won't they break or disintegrate after a couple of uses?
No, indeed, after trying some bamboo straws, I can confirm that they last long enough.
But what do you think of straws made from stainless steel or aluminium? They require to extract some ore, refine it, shape it, requiring then a certain amount of energy. Maybe not so much for a single straw, though much more than just an item made from a plant, growing by itself and requiring nothing but sun and water.
Same interrogation with straws made from paper. Like steel, this is a highly processed material. Even recycled paper needs loads of water and energy to see another life as a straw in your glass.
And what would we do with these steel or paper straws after use? How will they be recycled (if ever) when you throw them away?
Even though I always tend to prefer durable objects which can have a long life, I am not sure to be very fond of steel, aluminium or cardboard as a material to make straws, finally.
I guess I will stick to my wonderful bamboo straws and keep them in my bag.
