Plastic Straws Leave an Impact

  Plastic Straws are an everyday use in almost every household, but it’s not the best thing to use. Plastic straws were banned for its negative impact on ocean life. Plastic straws are the only straws that were banned because of the materials made in it doesn’t allow it to disintegrate in water.  Animals feed on plastic straws, but since the straws can’t get broken down by their digestive system it causes them to choke and sadly die. In 2018 Queen Elizabeth banned plastic usage in gift shops and cafes to save the marine and a strong desire to tackle the issue. Throughout the years over one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals have died due to plastic. Dianna Cohen, CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition said, “ We look at straws as one of the getaway issues to help people think about the global plastic pollution problem.” Sam Chetan Welsh of Greenpeace UK states, “We are to protect our oceans from the scourge of plastic, the flow of waste has to be cut off at the tap.”  Now stores and shops are determined to use paper straws. There are 8.3 billion plastic straws in most of the oceans around the world and 8 million tons of plastic straws that flow into the ocean every year.     

Not only is it dangerous to animals, but to humans as well.The chemicals are highly dangerous. It is made out of  BPA (Bisphenol A) which triggers cancer, but this can only happen when it’s heated which rarely happens. When it is 70 degrees Celsius ( 158 degrees Fahrenheit ) that is where it’s most likely to release BPA. Although this is rare,  there will always be a possibility of this happening.

Plastic Straws also have good outcomes, it doesn’t necessarily have to be washed like metal straws and you don’t have to drink as quickly as if you had a paper straw since it would most likely disintegrate in your drink. It’s also cheap to get a pack, unlike metal straws where it’s around 80-200$ and paper straws aren’t a favorite for its disintegration act in drinks.

Now it’s rare to find plastic straws anywhere and it’s not as bad as everyone thinks. The ban on plastic straws could be saving thousands of mammals by using less plastic. The chances of animals being extinct will be very  limited. With everyone contributing and helping out these mammals that are endangered we still have a chance to save them.