Why plastic straws are bad

This post contains affiliate links

​Something I don’t think a lot of people think about is the harm plastic straws have on the environment. With Americans using over 500 million straws a day, and most not getting properly disposed of, it makes you wonder where are these plastic items are going.
Unfortunately, if straws are not properly disposed of, they end up either in our waterways (oceans, rivers, lakes etc) or in other areas with wildlife such as woods, forest and grasslands. There is currently a huge focus on plastic ending up in our oceans, because this currently a huge problem, I mean it is awful! If you don’t believe me then you should watch the documentary A Plastic Ocean, which is on Netflix and you can see the harm not only straws, but all plastic items are having on our oceans.
But what is the big deal if they end up in the ocean or other wildlife areas? Won’t they break down or decompose? Eventually they will. It takes a plastic bottle 450 years to degrade. That is a long time! Even if it breaks down in an ocean due to salt water or currents there is a whole other problem that is more concerning. When plastic break down into smaller pieces it makes it easier for wildlife to consume it, or accidently get attached to it.
At one point there was a video going around of a turtle that had a straw in its nose. That video still breaks my heart. Yet I never realized that animals consume the plastic until I watched A Plastic Ocean where they actually dissected birds that had died, and their stomachs were completely filled with plastic pieces. It was heart wrenching. Even fish were consuming small pieces of plastic.

​So why straws?
I wanted to focus on straws today because we don’t have to make a huge change to make a difference. It can start with not using straws. That little change can make a huge difference considering how many straws Americans use a daily basis. So what can you do?

Say no thank you to straws
When going out to eat choose not to use a straw. Even if they end up putting one on your table out of habit give it back to them because they will more than likely throw it out, or at least they should even if you do not use it. You can also join the campaign One Less Straw (https://onelessstraw.org/about) to help reduce the use of straws! 

But that is gross
Well, bring your own reusable straw then. There is a company called BamBoo Roots that makes bamboo reusable straws! This is super great for going out. Just grab one on your way out to the restaurant, or keep them in your purse or car so you have them when you go out to eat. I will attach a link at the bottom that goes directly to their product on Amazon(which is my Amazon Associate link).

I know it will take a lot to end the issue we have with our oceans and wildlife, but if we can start somewhere and make a small difference, then we are still making a difference. This is just one small step we can make to help our environment.
Love Always,
Mikala