Did you ever think that every straw you have ever used is still out there?

Do you remember every plastic straw you have ever used?

So, obviously since you are reading this blog “Going Green” is something you are striving to do in all of your daily activities.  It’s not easy. Products have snuck into our lives in so many different ways that we don’t even notice anymore.  Here is one that occurred to me one day and I was almost dumbstruck by my naive participation. Straws. Yes, simple, little, plastic straws that you are given at restaurants and never think about again.

Did you ever think that every straw you have ever used is still out there?

Since the time it takes for plastic to break down is not even really known it’s pretty easy to say that every straw that has ever been used by you, your kids, and even your parents or grand parents is still out there, in some dump just waiting.  Plastics make up 20%-25% of the trash in our land fill, a straw might not seem like much but remember- every little bit counts.  For the next thousand years that plastic will not decompose, but just break down into smaller and smaller bits of plastic. These items could potentially leave landfills and end up in our environment in unknown ways. Just look to the extreme amounts of plastic waste that are floating in the oceans, breaking down to the size of plankton, waiting to be gobbled up by an unsuspecting fish. I know I don’t want my food eating plastics. This is just one more reason we need to reduce our plastic consumption.

Know Your Straws:

• Straws were originally made from the hollow stalks of rye grass
• Commercially the first straws were made from paper (and are still available)
• Plastic Straws like most plastics are an oil based product, something we know is a limited resource
• A plastic straw is polypropylene resin, plasticizers, colorants, antioxidants, stabilizers, and fillers
• Every day easily over 60 million plastic straws are used and thrown away
• Most plastic straws are also individually wrapped in paper

Straws are an energy intensive product from the oil extraction, shipping, refining, plasticizing, producing, packaging, shipping (again) and finally to your beverage, and from there in to the trash, and out to a dump.  Such a long life cycle for fifteen minutes of drinking.  And none of it is really necessary.  Imagine the resources that could be directed elsewhere or not even used if we just eliminated this one simple thing from our lives.

Do a quick search online for some fun reusable straws and express your self in new way.  There are lots and lots of neat results from a quick image search, right away the dozens of possibilities will jump right out at you. In a matter of moments I saw every thing from rich cobalt blue, to glass straws with swirls and colourful bubbles to keep them from rolling away.  There is also a company that makes bamboo straws for an added sustainable element.  Have fun with this, and don’t feel like giving up straws means giving up your favorite way of kicking back and sipping a tasty beverage.

Partnering up with Going Green Today will show you hundreds of great steps to take to start purging your life of these toxic and often wasteful items.  When you think about these tasks as individual small steps they don’t seem so overwhelming.  But, on the whole, they really have a significant impact.Think over the lifetime of your family how many straws, plastic waste, and toxins you can keep out of the landfill and out of your body. Why not start today?