Hortatory text: removing plastic straws from
our lives
A small, plastic straw – It’s something that comes with most beverages that we order, from soft drinks to
even a glass of water. Straws were among the many throw-away products being rapidly manufactured by
large corporations. Plastic straws quickly became cheaper to produce and more durable than paper. They
could easily wedge between the crosshairs of a fast food restaurant’s to-go lid without ripping or tearing.
Though at first this small straw may not seem like a lot, when its usage is added up, plastic straws create a
big problem for the environment. The world is now struggling to recover from its plastic pollution
hangover.
Here is why the plastic straws should be banned from our lives:
Firstly, plastic straws can’t be easily recycled. Straws are most commonly made from type 5 plastic, or
polypropylene. Although type 5 plastic can be recycled, it isn’t accepted by most curbside recycling
programs. When plastic straws aren’t recycled, they end up in landfills, or even worse, polluting our
oceans.
Secondly, plastics do not biodegrade, and never fully degrade. Biodegrading is when an item can be
naturally broken down and digested by micro-organisms, and then naturally recycled into new organic
molecules and life. On the other hand, degrading is just the process of breaking down into smaller pieces.
When plastic degrades, the bulk of the plastic will seem to disappear – However, what’s really happening
is the plastic is breaking into smaller, invisible pieces that will always still be on Earth. With that being
said, plastic straws take up to 200 years to degrade, but will never be fully off the Earth, as plastics are not
biodegradable. To make matters worse, the degrading of plastic releases chemicals that are toxic to
wildlife and the environment.
Lastly, straws are littered very often, and harm ocean wildlife. In early 2018, data from Ocean
Conservancy’s TIDES system shows us that straws/stirrers are the 11th most found ocean trash in
cleanups, making up about 3% of recovered trash. All these straws and plastic polluting our oceans is
having a negative impact on marine life. For example, the sea turtle accidentally swallowed the straw, and
then had it stuck up its nostril while trying to cough the straw out.
Straws are also especially dangerous to seabirds, as they can be easily picked up and swallowed,
suffocating and choking the bird. In fact, over 1 million seabirds die each year from ingesting plastic.
It's time to ditch all kinds of plastic. Take action: Combat our single-use plastics problem. Plastic straws
and other single-use plastics are a non-essential part of our life. Yet, they cause so much damage to the
environment. The simplest way to reduce plastic pollution is to reject the use of single-use plastics, like
straws. For example, the next time you go to a restaurant, make sure you request for your drink without a
straw. Other than that, you can also support legislation to ban plastic bags and plastic cutlery. Another
way to combat this problem is to use reusable straws. These reusable stainless steel or glass straws can be
used, cleaned, and reused over and over again.
Sapphira Rizkitania
(33)
XI IPA 2
