Monday, July 2, 2018

The Last Straw

I was at a school meeting where a meal was served on styrofoam plates with bottled water and plasticware.  One of the dads casually whipped a reusable fork/knife/spoon set out of his work bag and avoided the plasticware.  I was thrilled. All the plates, plasticware, and water bottles were thrown away as trash, of course (which drives me crazy - our city has an excellent, comprehensive recycling program and has made recycling mandatory!! but enforcement and education lag behind, of course).

However, this dad inspired me to think about how I could replace the plastic trash with reusables when I go out. I have napkin rolls that already make potlucks and picnics easy - I'm going to start carrying them more places.  I've seen Zoe (on Instagram) take her own containers along to restaurants for any food leftovers.  And I have stopped using plastic straws (more education at this website). 

I made this little roll-up of metal straws to keep in my purse.  I bought the set of straws at a local store, and the handy cleaning brush came with them.  I got this set up before a big vacation to Maine (another post for another day!), but I am planning to be straw-free at home, too. 



The other day, Genevieve wanted to make a little project with plastic straws, and I had none whatsoever in the house.  But when I went for a little jog around our neighborhood, I found no less than 4 straws among the rest of the litter and brought them home to sterilize for her to use.



The thought of all those dumb plastic straws out there as litter is maddening. I'm going to try to do my part, and I might even turn into one of those people who decline the straw and then furthermore try to educate the person offering the straw. Might.

11 comments:

sk said...

I nominate you for the Green Nobel.

Lana said...

I love your carrying pouch! We love our stainless steel straws and use them everyday at home. But, one night we made milkshakes and put them in our Yeti's with a stainless steel straw and about got frostbitten lips from drinking them. We try to just not use a straw away from home. I have not decided to carry them with me so far. There was actually story about this on the national news on TV last night. They showed piles of straws washed up on beaches and floating in the ocean. More and more cities are outlawing the plastic ones and interviews of some restaurant owners showed that many are switching to paper ones. That is a good trend.

Hazel said...

I love your straw holder, mine are in a little draw string bag made from a broken umbrella!

Rachel said...

EEEE Margo! Make me one! I'll buy it from you! This is the nudge I need. I want to just carry them around with me--bamboo silverware and stainless steel straws for sure. There are several restaurants around town that are stopping handing out plastic straws routinely--I love that.

Becky said...

I love this. I mostly go straw free and have for some time.

The disposable stuff at our schools though bugs me endlessly. The school I teach at had the dishwasher removed - the school didn't want to pay the rent on it when they weren't really using it....it's cheaper to just use disposable than to have reusable and someone to wash it. It's not like they actually cook in that kitchen anyway. The state of school lunches makes me ranty.....

e said...

What a great solution. I usually just go without... IF I remember to ask for no straw. I would like to see the whole world go back to paper straws.

Plastic trash is so ubiquitous on our planet. I don't understand why manufacturers aren't required to just REUSE the plastic that is already created. It should be regarded as a resource. Bah!

Sarah Barry said...

I'm laughing that you found straws while you were out. Perfect! Ha.

Margo said...

Rachel, thank you!! I'll email you directly :)

BLD in MT said...

Way to go, Margo. Every little bit!

Polly said...

Wow, I thought I was evolved using paper straws, but stainless steel?!! I am off to Google this! I love these straws. The paper straws are fine, but they're not reusable--just compostable. Big difference.....

Margo said...

Polly, there are all kind of stainless steel straws, too! I have wide ones and narrow ones. You can also buy some that have a crook at the top (like a bendy straw) and I've also seen shorter straws for short cups. Just make sure you get at least one pack with a cleaning brush :)