Paper vs. Plastic Straws: Is Paper Really Better for the Environment?
In the end, paper straws still have large environmental consequences, and are definitely not eco-friendly. For the most part, they are still a single-use waste item.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Many restaurants have banned plastic straws due to their harmful effects on the environment, and have switched to paper alternatives instead. But, are paper straws really better for the environment?
The answer isn’t as simple as you may think:
While it’s true that paper straws aren’t as harmful as plastic straws, this doesn’t mean that they aren’t harmful at all. In fact, paper straws can still have many negative environmental effects, especially if they are improperly disposed.
First, let’s go over what exactly makes plastic straws so bad for the environment. Then, we’ll go over how paper straws compare to plastic in terms of environmental impact, and why using paper straws might not be the most eco-friendly decision.
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Hmmm.....
It seems a little more in-depth probing may be needed :
I spent the last two years working in the print industry, (newspapers, but the company shut its doors back in May), we used a LOT of paper, (obviously). Much of what we used was recycled paper. Looks just as good as first run, just as durable.
Not sure I am buying the biodegrading argument. Some paper will take a year or more to degrade depending on its weight, how it's been treated, (chemicals), cardboard vs. standard printer paper, etc.. I think the thing to remember about this is that paper is nothing more than wood pulp. So no matter how long it takes, it's just going back to the environment where it came from, that is, it's naturally occuring, we just modify it enough to print on it. Plastic is not naturally occuring, so we toss it into the brush, or trash, whatever, it's pollution.
Example?
If I took one roll of paper, 1,200 pounds, and 1,200 pounds of plastic and dropped both in the Atlantic ocean, in a year, the paper roll will most likely be gone.. It will be another 5-700 years before the ocean finally grinds the plastic into nothing.
As far as paper bags go? I just use those goofy reusable bags. I never buy much anyway. Plastic bags? I admit, I sometimes get a few of them so I can empty the litter box into them, then into the trash.
Just my opinion of course.
I would like to see paper receipts be eliminated unless a customer asks for one.
The problem is that on the one hand you are right, water saturation and wave action will indeed grind that roll of paper to mush, but when buried in landfills, not quite as good as you think. Landfills try NOT to allow composting to happen rapidly as it produces methane gas that must be bled off and usually burned as a result. This is why, as noted in the article, that the paper straws and plastic straws will last nearly equally long in a landfill.
Another factor in paper production is that it requires so much energy to produce. Combine that with the chemical pollutants used to make paper, and suddenly that "cleaner" product is a lot "dirtier" than people believe.
Personally, I prefer that we stop producing so much plastic and require that the plastic we do produce be recycled.
No arguments here.
We use sooooo much plastic. I drink a lot of gatorade. Better than soda, tastier than water. Problem is the endless bottles of plastic. So... I bought 4 half gallon bottles of gatorade, then ordered the dry gatorade off Amazon, and just refill the bottles. I know, it's nothing, but I try to do my part.
But the linked article concludes:
"Overall, it’s true that paper straws are probably much better for the environment than their plastic counterparts."
So if you have to use a straw, paper is the way to go, but it's better to avoid them all together if you are really trying to be planet friendly.
Bamboo straws would be best as they impart no taste to the liquid and are fully biodegradable and yet rugged enough for multiple use and can last a long time with care.
Also causes facial wrinkles around the mouth, sorta like the ones smokers get.
yea, but great for manicurist.
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How about light metal straws, as easily reusable and long lasting, as are spoons, forks, knives, but never sporks...wtf, i've always wanted a Silver Spork.
At home we use metal straws. They are of course reusable so that cuts down on the resources to produce and dispose. The only drawback is that one should probably only use them when still. Running or walking with them is less safe than paper or plastic because metal straws do not bend or break on impact.
I have a collapsible metal straw.
After reading the link, it's the only kind I would use...
sorry TiG, wrote my comment before reading yours.
Was not sure they were even used.
How about since we seem to now be stockpiling recyclables rather than shipping them to Third World countries like we used to, we actually start working on a real effort to eliminate pollution????
That’s a good point. The plastic straw fight is stupid because of the above. The US has largely contained what gets into the ocean from here so banning plastic straws here for what happened in the past and happens somewhere else is simply beyond stupid.
China used to take a lot of our recycling goods as I recall, but they don't anymore.
That's a bit! When the company I worked for closed its doors last may, we had 6 boxes of cut aluminum, (the plates that are used on the press, every run, they have to be changed....anyway..), each box runs between 4,500 and 5,500 pounds. I asked the boss if I could take one to the recycling place for some spare cash, (that I didn't need, but thought it would be fun), and he said that no place would take it because the plates are covered in ink.. I guess some guy out of Seattle gets them and has a process to clean them, then he sells it.
Someone isn't going to the right place. We have a scrap yard here that that buys aluminum, even stained likevl that will get you 26 cents per pound.
Sadly, we have but ONE place in town that will take aluminum, all the others have closed down. Next nearest place is Tacoma or Seattle. Probably Portland too but I never get down there. I did ask out of curiosity if the local place would take 5,500 pounds of cut aluminum covered in ink and they said no.
Aluminum is the lowest i recall in decades
Not so much about the return cost as it is decreasing the usage of new aluminum.
I don't use many plastic straws, but I hate wood coffee stir sticks. They put a bad taste in coffee
I have made it a habit of carrying my own metal spoon with me when I am not at home. That way I don't have to depend on whatever is available when I buy something when away from home. There is not much that I would buy away from home that can't be eaten or stirred with as spoon. But, that is just me, and a lesson well learned over the years.
Also, when eating out at a restaurant/cafe I take my own utensils to use. Not a fanatic about germs, but, I have seen some of the utensils provided at some of these places that still have someone else's meal left on them. I am not that into meal sharing with someone I don't know.
It'd be neat if people just tried a lot harder to not litter.
True. I live out in the woods, one road in, same road out. My neighbors and I keep our properties very clean, no litter, some landscaping, etc.. You get the idea. But not a day goes by that I don't have to pick up an empty soda can, or bottle, empty McDonalds bags. Honestly, there isn't much that pisses me off, but that gets under my skin.
I believe it. Two summers ago some jackass came up here in the middle of the night and at the end of the road, (no one lives there, it's just a big turnaround), dumped 8 full bags of garbage a mattress and a box spring. My neighbor and I just threw them in my truck and took it to the dump. So yea, I get that...it's a pain in the ass.
He should set up a security camera system and report the bastards.
My family has an Adopt a Highway, named for one of our ancestors, 4 times a year we clean it and then have lunch. I don't like litter.
Paper straws are compostable.
Not as quickly or easily as you think. Apparently in a landfill they last almost as long as the plastic straws do, according to the linked article
Too much trash, not enough bugs and worms. I put a lot of my paper trash in my worm farm to compost it myself.
have the China tariffs affected your farm ?
Trump allocated 14 billion to help u.
Keep up the Asexual predatory work, you obviously
really dig.
The Chinese haven't been buying very many worms lately. Could be tariffs could be they don't feel like fishing. Perhaps I should apply for relief.
idk
sounds a litle fishy to me
There is no reason America can't build recycling plants. Recycle everything. Use what we need and sell the rest to whoever wants it.
It will take a national investment to do this and the payout in the long run will be more than worth it. Recycle everything. Even have facilities set up for the 'rare earth' metals. This nation could easily cut its landfill use by 90%---and make money doing it. But first, the commitment and investments must be made.
After all, when Texas Instruments came out with the first hand calculator the price was nearly $500. Today you can buy one at Walmart for under $5. We can do this. We must do this.
Straws? Piss ant conversation.
I don't think there's a market for it. Otherwise China and other nations would still be buying it from us.
As I was growing up there were 5 incinerators in Philadelphia in the 60's.
Several are now "archived" Superfund sites but with advances in technology, we could mix in some incineration to steam to electricty
sites if we are serious. It requires more people, more sorting etc, but it is possible.
As usual, one needs only to look at the Nordic countries.
Otherwise we ( our grandchildren and theirs ) will be drowned in refuse.
The market is there. Screw China. We can do it--better--more efficiently. I see jobs, profit, environmentally smart, jobs and more profit.
It is an absolute necessity. You know, like building 'the bomb' to end WW2. Or the money, energy and infrastructure to eradicate polio. We can do this and we can do it better than anyone than anyone else in the world. Period, end of story.
But we have to have leadership. Investment. And the goal. Currently we have nothing except plastic pollution, trash, filling landfills, more trash and more plastic. We do nothing.
Paper vs. Plastic Straws
Simple solution is to get into the way back machine to a time when folks did without straws of any type. Worse thing to come of that would be folks dribbling down their chins.