The Last (Plastic) Straw Up North

Guest Opinion

Sept. 23, 2017

Take a guess — how many plastic straws are used in the United States daily?
If you guessed 500 million, you're right. And those straws will last longer than we do.

They take 200 years to break down into tiny toxic particles. When we learned this,
we decided we had to do something. We are a small group of local women who hope to eliminate the use of plastic straws in our community. We are being helped through ideas and resources provided by thelastplasticstraw.org, a national organization.

Plastic straws contribute to the plastic pollution our planet is facing. Although plastic straws amount to a small fraction of plastic found in the oceans, their size is a danger to marine animals. Fish consume them. Straws are small and lightweight and often do not make it into recycling bins, but rather, litter the roads and beaches. One woman who voluntarily helps clean the beaches in California has picked up 500 straws in a two-week period.

In the past 20 years, people have come to expect straws in every drink. Some restaurants even serve them in water glasses. Recently a local bar served one in a hot Irish coffee.

Plastic straws are an example of extreme waste generated by an unnecessary product. The good news is that numerous movements promote their elimination. The anti-straw campaigns started out slow and steady until 2015, then they took off, thanks to a viral video of a sea turtle with a straw caught in its nose.

The pain the turtle experienced was difficult to watch, but it increased the number of anti-straw activists in such groups as “Be Straw Free,” “Boycott Straws,” “One Less Straw,” and “The Last Plastic Straw.” Both the Smithsonian museums and Disney World's Animal Kingdom have banned plastic straws. The Plastic Pollution Coalition estimates 1,800 restaurants, organizations, institutions, and schools have gotten rid of straws or implemented a “serve-straws-upon-request” policy.

The plastic industry opposes these bans. In many states, it has been successful in passing legislation to outlaw the banning of plastic bags. Unfortunately, Michigan is one of them.

The anti-straw campaign might succeed because activists are not seeking to change laws or regulations. We are only asking consumers to change habits and restaurants and bars to change practices. If you want to help, here are some suggestions:

1)    Make a commitment to saying “no” to plastic straws. When ordering a drink, politely request “No straw please.” Use your own paper, glass, bamboo, or stainless steel straw if one is needed.

2)    Reach out to eateries and ask them to serve straws only upon request and put the policy on their menus.

3)    Encourage those eateries to make a change to non-plastic straws: paper, glass, bamboo, or stainless steel.

We are a small group of Traverse City women who love our planet and want to protect it. Eliminating plastic straws might be a small step, but it could have a giant impact. For more information and resources, please go to thelastplasticstraw.org.

Linda Frank, Kathy Daniels, Claudia DeMarco, and Kristine Drake are members of the Traverse City arm of the national organization The Last Plastic Straw.

Join the Straw Fight in TC
Contact the Traverse City arm of The Last Plastic Straw organization by emailing: thelastplasticstraw.tc@outlook.com.