July 5, 2018

What those stories about the environmental impact of plastic straws aren't telling you.

I'm reading "Plastic straws aren’t just bad for the environment — they can be bad for your body" (WaPo).
An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers, according to an analysis by a group of pollution research nonprofits called Better Alternatives Now, which based its results on trash collected by volunteers around the world.
I'm dubious about the reliability of that count. How the hell do you collect trash "around the world," sift it down to just the plastic, and weigh/measure the percentage of "straws and stirrers"? Since the push is to ban straws in the United States, I really only care about the total volume of straws in the U.S. trash, not the weight of the straws relative to other things in the trash in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, etc.
A recent report by the World Economic Forum projects that by the year 2050, the plastic in our oceans will outweigh the fish.
Mm. Yeah. I guess I really only care about the U.S. straws that go out to sea and become part of this massive plastic enterprise of outweighing the fish. Who puts garbage out in the ocean? I don't think we do that, and if we do, we should stop, and that would solve the problem of straws in the ocean.

But, before logic sets it, WaPo wants to warn us that there are other problems with straws: swallowing air (leading to burping and farting), directing sugar at a too-specific part of your teeth, exposing you to polypropylene (which is food-safe, but you never know!), causing wrinkles around the month, and possibly inciting you to drink more than if you had to put the rim of the cup to your lips.

Did you notice what is not mentioned? Hint: It's something WaPo would normally go out of its way to notice and yell about. SEX DISCRIMINATION!

Straws are FOR WOMEN. The ban HURTS WOMEN. I happened to say back in 2016 "I absolutely loathe straws. The only reason for them is to pierce those plastic lids on take out cups. I especially hate seeing a man drinking from a straw." And I did some research:
Is this some weird quirk of mine or do I have support? I have support:

1. "After ordering a drink, do you take the straw out?"
I'd get a good chuckle out of seeing a man drinking his hard liquor through a tiny mixing straw.
2. "Real Men Don't Use Straws," by Malcolm Freberg:
I want you to think about the most macho movie characters imaginable. The ones who define hero, the ones your dad hero worships. James Bond. Indiana Jones. John McLane. Now think about any scene in which they drink anything, be it water or alcohol or exotic space poison. I bet your Luminosity-trained brain couldn't insert a straw into that scene if it tried.

Harry Stamper does not suck Sprite through a bendy straw. Bruce Wayne does not drink pina coladas with a crazy straw. Real men don't use straws.... Hollywood and society had a meeting in our collective subconscious and decided that straws are for sissies. Obviously no one's going to see you sipping a gin and tonic through a cocktail straw and yell, "Hey Sally, that guy looks like he's sucking a tiny dick!" You may not have even considered that straws look like penises until you read that. I'm sorry -- but knowing is better than not knowing.
3. "Why Men Hate Straws":

Now, let's examine whether it's true that the ban on straws HURTS WOMEN. To argue yes, you'd have to say, it is primarily women who use straws and benefit by looking cute using straws. Men either don't use straws or don't realize how bad they look using straws, so they are either unaffected or (without realizing it) helped by the straw ban. But I can see the no side of this argument. Women are helped because they are freed from the burden of having to see men drinking from straws. And let's be honest, a lot of us are annoyed by the looking-cute straw antics of other women (e.g., the woman in the video embedded above and the woman in the photograph at the top of the WaPo article).

To be clear: I would not ban straws. I would stress disposing of straws (and all trash) properly. I think straws are utilitarian in to-go cups with lids, though I'd like to see less on-the-go drinking. And I wish restaurants wouldn't put straws in drinks served in glasses. I've been getting fat plastic straws in ice water lately. I take it out and put it on the table. And by the way, when did straws get so fat? It used to be that those fat straws were only for thick drinks — shakes and malteds. Soda came with a very thin paper straw — usually with a red spiral stripe — and it was considered special to get a Coke with 2 straws. I dreamed of bending the straws in 2 directions and sharing that drink with a cute boyfriend. But that was only imagination. In real life, he'd be a male drinking from a straw, and that would not look right, though — on reflection, many decades later — I might have looked cute.

And that's the question: Do you care more about how you look or about how your love object looks? The stereotype for males and females — that women care about how they look and heterosexual men care about how women look — argues against banning the straws (unless you factor in the mouth wrinkles). But reinforcing the stereotypes is SEXIST, so I'll give that argument to the straw-banners. I'm not one of them — as noted above. My position on straws is: 1. I advise you to shun them unless you're in a situation where you need a lidded cup, 2. Remember that you probably look stupid drinking from a straw, especially if you're a man, 3. Dispose of straws and all the rest of your trash properly.

163 comments:

tim in vermont said...

The plastic in the oceans comes from recycling in the US, well, a lot of it.

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/28/shocker-recycling-plastic-is-making-ocean-litter-worse/

We should ban export of recyclables to do our part. US dumps don’t leak into the ocean the way plastics do in countries poor enough to accept our garbage, I mean recycling, do.

donald said...

All the ships at sea dump their garbage in the ocean.

My name goes here. said...

The rule is you do not drink tea with a straw. There is an exception for Astronauts.

You are allowed to drink a milkshake with a straw.

You can drink a slushie based drink with a straw if nobody sees you.

And, if she's cute you can double straw a drink with her.

Them's the rules.

chickelit said...

Burn that straw man, Althouse.

tcrosse said...

If a gentleman must stir his drink, he does so with his index finger.

walter said...

Good grief.
Althouse with more restrictions on men.
Real men use a straw if they want...especially with hard liquor...wearing shorts.

Original Mike said...

”An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers”

I don’t believe it.

Mike Sylwester said...

What percent of straws go into the oceans, and what percent goes into landfills?

The Bergall said...

Now my day is ruined...................+

TRISTRAM said...

I don't use straws (or lids) unless I am in a car. Of course I am monster that chews the soft(ened) ice, so there is that...

Lucien said...

A real man handles his swizzle stick with panache - sprezzatura, even.

Mike Sylwester said...

An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers

Should that decimal point be there?

Maybe it should be about 75% -- about three-fourths.

MadisonMan said...

I'm not a straw-user. When I get coffee to-go, I try to take my own container -- saves money.

The last time I got a drink in a restaurant -- Gates & Brovi here in Madison -- I don't think it came with a straw.

buwaya said...

Being a real man, I use my hands, when the skulls of my enemies are unavailable.

Its uncomfortable, a bit, in the beginning, drinking coffee this way, but after some toughening you don't notice it anymore.

Original Mike said...

”Real men use a straw if they want...”

I chose to drink a margarita through a straw last weekend, even though I knew it would give Althouse the willies. I don’t like ice up against my teeth.

Michael K said...

I also only use straws in the car. Most environmentalist crap I automatically dismiss.

Recycling is virtue signaling.

There are biodegradable plastics, but as usual there is the old fossil fuel and carbon argument to attack common sense.

Ralph L said...

At one time, some restaurants would serve drinks with the end of the wrapper still on the otherwise naked straw. That was probably unhygienic as shit.

Sebastian said...

"that women care about how they look and heterosexual men care about how women look"

Equality!

Message: we care.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

You know what is worse than straws, or men drinking from straws? Home-made videos where clever people play multiple annoying roles. (over it)

Original Mike said...

”WaPo wants to warn us that there are other problems with straws…directing sugar at a too-specific part of your teeth, “

Huh? I read that dentists recommend straws.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I would now like to see more men drink from straws. As an act of defiance.

rehajm said...

A proper mint julep is sipped through a short straw which obligates the consumer to stuff their snout into the bouquet of mint leaves...

At great grandmas it was a treat when she’d pull the glass straw from her china cabinet and let us kids use in our Cott black cherry soda...

Stainless steel straw/paddle combination is best fir a Fribble. It doesn’t collapse under sucking pressure.

rehajm said...

The sticky ice problem us mitigated using the straw. Less likely to drop the drink all over your dress, Alice.

richlb said...

When talking about "straws" in mixed drinks, what you are really referring to is a "stirrer". And yes, anybody (male or female) who drinks their gin and tonic through those things is a moron who shouldn't be trusted with alcohol.

Fernandinande said...

1. I advise you to shun them unless you're in a situation where you need a lidded cup,

We use straws all the time, like right now for instance.

2. Remember that you probably look stupid drinking from a straw, especially if you're a man,

I already look stupid without a straw.

3. Dispose of straws and all the rest of your trash properly.

We put them in a box made of recycled cardboard and mail them to:
Pacific Ocean
Department of Heavy Fish
c/o Donald Trump

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Most Americans, even in progressive enclaves filled with progressive busy-body do-gooders, have no clue how to recycle.

Most people basically think the recycling fairy will magically clean and sort their trash and they don't have to follow any rules for recycling properly.

China doesn't want our recycle anymore because what we give them is a bunch of dirty, unwashed trash. (washing out glass, plastic, cans etc uses precious water - there's that issue too)


yeah - just throw a baked beans can, unwashed and slimed with residual baked-bean goo, into the recycle bin. The recycle fairly will take care of it.

rehajm said...

This straw thing is a wedge issue for the midterms?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

What the world has is a packaging problem. We over-package everything, use it once, and then toss it.

richlb said...

Original Mike said: ”WaPo wants to warn us that there are other problems with straws…directing sugar at a too-specific part of your teeth, “

Huh? I read that dentists recommend straws.


I think you are correct. At least, they recommend it if you drink dark beverages like soda or tea so as to avoid staining the teeth.

But it's just a case of the Post trying to find every conceivable possibility to convince people they don't need straws. Personally, I think all beach and water communities should proactively ban them. The straws, and wrappers if they are plastic, do often end up in the water. They blow off of tables or fall out of empty drinks. I would also ban smoking for this same reason since smokers seem to never understand that throwing a butt on the ground is the worst kind of littering.

Bob Boyd said...

I drink through a flaming log.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

This straw thing is a wedge issue for the midterms?

Yes. Trump is handing out straws to kids in cages and the outrage machine is gearing up for full coordinated rage-explosion.

chuck said...

Walking along the bank of the Hudson River in Manhatten and looking at all the condoms floating downriver, I speculated that future geologists would discover a "rubber" layer in the sedimentary record.

Ray - SoCal said...

The argument I read for the straw ban was straws are a gateway plastic, and by banning them you will increase awareness.

Sounds like that argument was not working, so new reasons.

Fernandinande said...

tcrosse said...
If a gentleman must stir his drink, he does so with his index finger.


And if shaken, not stirred, it's very couth to place one's hand over the top of the glass while doing so, like that one scene in Thunderpussy, but take the straw out first!

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...


“An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers”

Like the campus rape 20%, this statistic is so self-evidently absurd that anyone who seriously cites it can be dismissed as a hack, and anyone who believes it can be dismissed as an utterly unobservant moron. Yes, I think we have too much plastic packaging of ephemeral crap but, no, I can’t take people seriously who insist on trotting out nonsensical crap.

chickelit said...

How does a man sucking a straw offend thee but a man smoking not offend? Did Bogart look like a sissy with a fag dangling from his lips? What about Churchill? Phallic symbols used by men is complex.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I like straws because I often see the dirty-hands waitstaff touching to top of my water cup or drink glass and I don't want to put my lips on there.

I don't know why restaurants don't train the staff to carry the glass in the mid-section of the cup, and not at top of the rim. It's gross. Don't touch the rim. Thank you.

Jon said...

@Fernandistein: Thank you for that comment. My day is made. For the rest of the month.

Fernandinande said...

Dickin'Bimbos@Home said...
Trump is handing out straws to kids in cages


I think those are more properly called tubes, and without them the little tykes wouldn't be able to reach the water troughs.

tim maguire said...

I don't have a rule about straws, but I generally do not use them. I think the ban is stupid, just more evidence that the nannies will never be happy. Give in on this and they will immediately move on to the next outrage. Sooner or later we will have to take a stand. I say sooner.

Richard said...

”An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers”

It is estimated that 75% of all statistics are made up.

Ann Althouse said...

"Good grief. Althouse with more restrictions on men."

I have no power to restrict you. I can only offer information about what makes you attractive or unattractive.

Much as I sort of like the idea of you guys having to think "Althouse!!!" when you drink from a straw (as you already do when you put on your shorts), try this: Forget about me. Just find a mirror sometime when you've got a drink with a straw. Sip in your normal way while looking at yourself. And just seriously consider whether this is how you want to look to other people. I know the question "If I were a woman, would I want to have sex with this" is probably too weird, too disturbing, or too emasculating to want to sidle up to a mirror and ask to your own face, but if you do it, let me know!

Ann Althouse said...

”An estimated 7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers”/"It is estimated that 75% of all statistics are made up."

Once they load in the weasel word "estimated," there are no standards at all!

Kevin said...

I'm a little surprised you didn't jump on the biggest flaw of all in the straw ban: mentally and physically handicapped people, and hospital patients in general, along with anyone else with any sort of temporary or permanent mobility or swallowing issue.

It seems to me that a straw ban is actionable under the ADA. I'm not a lawyer or law professor though.

lgv said...

I travel extensively. I find the 7.5% number ludicrous on its face. I need to see the methodology. Is the 7.5% by volume or weight.
Straws and stirrers are very light compared to all the other plastic we use on a daily basis. If you truly care about plastic in the environment, eliminate the plastic water/soda bottle. Of course that won't happen, because straws are much easier to do than bottles.
First, the whole premise is that plastic in the environment is bad.

Also, the premise that plastic in the environment is bad is flawed. The issue is what we do with plastic waste. If you bury it a landfill or burn it properly, the environmental impact is minimal.

The straw thing is just feel good thing, meant to be a first step toward banning a lot more stuff.

TrespassersW said...

Straws are good for people with cold-sensitive teeth. Since having a crown placed on one of her teeth, my wife always drinks ice water with a straw because she can keep the extra cold water away from that crown.

And I call bullshit on that 7.5 percent statistic. Besides, we should be incinerating our waste to generate electricity. Win/win!

Leland said...

I wonder what the spread of some diseases would be if straws were to disappear over night. I'm sure the Malthusians don't care.

JEP said...

The city of New York hauls immense barges of garbage out to sea and dumps them.

Unknown said...

As a person who is dealing with the side effects of facial nerve paralysis, I am going to weigh in... Since it is very difficult for me to drink anything because the left side of my face does not work, I have had to adapt to quite a few problems.
If you are serious, I feel that assuming that someone with difficulty eating or drinking should conform to your opinions about the “proper” way of doing things seems somewhat narrow minded. I carry some reusable metal straws with me, but there are times when I don’t have them and paper straws really do not work well for things like coffee or tea. In my opinion, people should not be quite so quick to judge (or proscribe things for) other people.

Unknown said...

As a person who is dealing with the side effects of facial nerve paralysis, I am going to weigh in... Since it is very difficult for me to drink anything because the left side of my face does not work, I have had to adapt to quite a few problems.
If you are serious, I feel that assuming that someone with difficulty eating or drinking should conform to your opinions about the “proper” way of doing things seems somewhat narrow minded. I carry some reusable metal straws with me, but there are times when I don’t have them and paper straws really do not work well for things like coffee or tea. In my opinion, people should not be quite so quick to judge (or proscribe things for) other people.

Anonymous said...

Places like Portland sell their "recyclables" to China so they can "recycle" it for them. Why anyone believes they do anything but dump it in the Pacific ocean is beyond me.

Bob Boyd said...

One time I was riding a rented motor scooter in Thailand. I stopped for gas and went inside to get a drink. I ordered a soda from the guy behind the counter and he handed me my drink in a little, plastic bag that had handles at the top, like a plastic, grocery bag has. At first I was thinking, What the Hell...? But then I realized it was brilliant. You just hang the bag from the handlebars and away you go. Of course you have to use a straw.
Also, I was wearing shorts at the time.

So little scooter, shorts and a straw.
I have no regrets.

Sal said...

When I'm having a manly shake that's too thin for a spoon and too thick to simply drink, I stick my mouth into it and 'Hoover' it. The ladies find that really classy.

Ann Althouse said...

"Original Mike said: ”WaPo wants to warn us that there are other problems with straws…directing sugar at a too-specific part of your teeth, “/Huh? I read that dentists recommend straws./I think you are correct.... But it's just a case of the Post trying to find every conceivable possibility to convince people they don't need straws."

If you read the article, you'll see that it hedges about this. It's bad for your teeth if the straw is aimed at a spot on your teeth, but it's better for your teeth if the straw is aimed at the back of your tongue, bypassing your teeth. It claims that the tooth-bypassing position is harder to do.

One thing that I read long ago that made me stop using straws is that the straw shoots the drink to the back of your tongue, and it's the front of your tongue where you are more sensitive to taste. So for pure pleasure and sensory satisfaction, you should drink with your mouth on the rim of a cup or glass and get the full benefit. The feeling of the glass on your lips should also be good, and the open area at the top of the glass includes your nose. Part of the pleasure of a carbonated drink is the fizz hitting your face. All of that is lost with a lidded cup and a straw, which seems like the idea way to drink down something you hate... as if soda is medicine.

Original Mike said...

”If I were a woman, would I want to have sex with this"

I sure am glad the preening-for-women phase of my life is over.

Ann Althouse said...

"'m a little surprised you didn't jump on the biggest flaw of all in the straw ban: mentally and physically handicapped people, and hospital patients in general, along with anyone else with any sort of temporary or permanent mobility or swallowing issue."

The linked article does talk about this.

Maybe the banners support prescription-only straws.

Ann Althouse said...

There's always sippy cups.

Original Mike said...

” It claims that the tooth-bypassing position is harder to do.”

I put that right up there with “7.5 percent of plastic in the environment comes from straws and stirrers”.

Ann Althouse said...

"A proper mint julep is sipped through a short straw which obligates the consumer to stuff their snout into the bouquet of mint leaves..."

Is it traditional to serve a mint julep with a straw (and a short straw at that). I doubted that and I looked it up. I found something indicating that a spoon was more traditional than a straw, but then I foundthis:

"[I]n the late 1800’s, Marvin Stone was sipping a Mint Julep and was dissatisfied with the natural rye grass straws used at the time. Those straws fell apart, imparted additional unwanted grassy flavors and left a gritty residue in the drink. He experimented by wrapping a piece of paper around a pencil and gluing the ends together, an invention that caught on. After several improvements to the initial design, including making a more sturdy paraffin-coated manila version, his drinking straw was patented in 1888."

So they wanted straw enough that they were using GRASS for a straw.

Gahrie said...

The government can't ban abortion to save a baby, but it can ban straws to save sea turtles.

I can't wait for the day that the Left passes a law making it illegal to give an animal an abortion.

LordSomber said...

A strawman argument if there ever was one.

I'll be here all week.

MayBee said...

I have not heard these figures. But if they were using straws in these numbers, most of the time it would be super public.

Michael K said...

So, why not go back to paper straws ?

The plastic thing is related to the fossil fuel hysteria.

Kevin said...

Dammit, caught not having read the main article. Virginia Postrel would block me for that!
Ok, I confess I find your writing more interesting than most other people's, so in this case I read yours and not theirs.

Scott Patton said...

Forgoing an obviously benign convenience is how we prove that we will eagerly do as we are told.

Gahrie said...

I have no power to restrict you. I can only offer information about what makes you attractive or unattractive.

Womansplaining.

Could you imagine the outrage if a man somewhere was lecturing woman on what does or doesn't make them attractive?

walter said...

Blogger Leland said...I wonder what the spread of some diseases would be if straws were to disappear over night. I'm sure the Malthusians don't care.
--
If you are out getting a drink at a bar in the middle of cold and flu season, a straw is likely more hygenic than the rim of a glass that has just gone through the typically minimal "sanitizing" process.

Michael said...

I wonder if they weighed the fish one at a time or just made a wild ass guess.

Gahrie said...

Like the campus rape 20%, this statistic is so self-evidently absurd

Careful...Althouse has never rejected that rape statistic, despite many opportunities to do so.

jaydub said...

This article is total bullshit. An estimated 90% of all the plastic in the oceans comes from 10 rivers, eight in Asia (Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; & Mekong and from two in Africa – the Nile and the Niger. There are multiple references, here's one:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/environment/90-percent-of-plastics-polluting-our-oceans-come-from-10-rivers/article/524230

Also,from CNBC: "The Ocean Conservancy said in a report discussed in the GlobalPost that 60 percent of the plastic trash flowing into the sea originates from China, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Just as is always the case, US environmentalists are driving an agenda in the US that has very little to do with cleaning up anything.

Kevin said...

Re: paper straws. I don't know if you've tried them as an adult but they are miserable. We have a coffee bar near where I live that is the most hippie place I've ever been, nothing but vegan and hemp and Jesus Christ those guys are nuts but anyway, they have paper straws and they may have worked for us as children but they are intrusive and weird and gross as an adult.

They swell and disintegrate if you don't slam your drink down instantly and leave it sitting for any length of time. And they taste like something, I don't know what, but something, as opposed to nothing, which is what plastic straws taste like. It may be that as they absorb the drink they start to make a horrible Frankenstein taste?

Yancey Ward said...

A real man sips his hard liquor through a cigar.

rhhardin said...

I used three fat straws just the other week to extend three whips on an antenna six inches, to bring it to resonance at the right place.

Clip a one-foot test lead, folded over, on the end of the whip, and slide a fat straw over it and the whip to get it to stick out straight in the direction of the whip, and there you are.

Ordered from Amazon just for the purpose. I have seven extras that I will dump in the ocean.

Guys and straws.

traditionalguy said...

People who cannot sit up in bed need straws. So we must throw out the weak with the latest virtue BS of the day maybe we can classify attack straws as arms for a well regulated militia.

Yancey Ward said...

Or the hollowed out femur of one of his rivals.

rhhardin said...

The NYC barge that was carrying waste to somewhere that then refused to take it, so it became a flying dutchman cruising the world looking for a port, was called in the NY papers the gar-barge.

clint said...

I'd have thought the big advantage for women is that drinking from a glass smudges their lipstick.

@Original Mike said...

"I chose to drink a margarita through a straw last weekend..."

How do you get the salt into the straw?

Owen said...

7.5% = BS
"Estimated 7.5%" = BS^N where N is very large.

7.5% implies they did repeated samples of say 1000 tons of garbage and 90% or 95% of the time (which implies at least 10 such samples) they got between 74 and 76 tons of straws. Riiiight.

MadisonMan said...

If you are out getting a drink at a bar in the middle of cold and flu season, a straw is likely more hygenic than the rim of a glass that has just gone through the typically minimal "sanitizing" process.

This is exactly why I carry alcohol wipes with me all the time, to wipe down the rims of all glasses set before me in a bar/restaurant/cafe.

I kid. I actually have an immune system to prevent infection from such glasses. Almost everyone does. Number of people who contact flu/cold from the rim of a glass: 0. (Now, I concede you *might* get something like a norovirus -- but that would be your bartender's fault. Know Your Bartender).

BTW -- I was just down to Greenbush Bakery for a donut. I espied 4 abandoned plastic straws in the Parking Lot -- room Rocky's, I'm assuming. (I did not pick them up).

MadisonMan said...

*from* Rocky's, not room Rocky's. (sigh)

rhhardin said...

Thick milkshakes were a bad idea. I don't know what brought them on.

Original Mike said...

”How do you get the salt into the straw?”

I snorted it.

So many things you can do with straws.

rhhardin said...

I make iced coffee with a funnel. Chilled bottled water, sip enough to make space, then insert instant coffee through a funnel (along with sugar or cream to taste), re-cap and mix. A nice cold coffee drink in a bottle.

Throw bottle in ocean.

Stephen said...

“ And by the way, when did straws get so fat?“

Blame it on the bubble tea houses—fat straws are necessary to suck up the tapioca balls that settle at the bottom of the cup. Bubble tea is extremely popular with young Asian immigrants; the outlets have popped up all over the Bay Area and greater LA, which means they’ll soon come to a city near you.

Original Mike said...

”Almost everyone does.”

Check your health privilege.

tim in vermont said...

Just as is always the case, US environmentalists are driving an agenda in the US that has very little to do with cleaning up anything.

That all depends on whether the US is dumping our ‘recycling’ in those countries.

SeanF said...

Dana Carvey demonstrates Althouse's point:

Youtube link

tim in vermont said...

What Althouse said at 9:12 is probably the reason I don’t use straws. Even a Diet Coke from McDonalds, which is nice on a hot day, is better drunk from the cup.

TRISTRAM said...

Go into a grocery store, restaurant or a convenience store. Measure the weight of the straws against just the EMPTY plastic cups and lids (never mind the bottles for water, soda, cleaning supplies, ingredients, food packages). I'll bet cash money that the straws are less than 7.5% the weight of the cups + lids (don't forget the coffee cup lids).

Francisco D said...

"Phallic symbols used by men is complex.

Perhaps, that is an understated aspect of the "straw man" issue.

gilbar said...

Most people basically think the recycling fairy will magically clean and sort their trash and they don't have to follow any rules for recycling

*IF* you live in Ames, Iowa; the recycling fairy* DOES all this for you. Just throw your recycling in with the regular trash; And it's all taken care of.
Do you know what plastic straws are? ELECTRICITY!
Do you know what paper straws are? ELECTRICITY!

recycling fairy* REALLY Prefer the term Resource Recovery Plant

Jersey Fled said...

A survey of trash collectors around the world is about the dumbest way there is to come up with a number like this.

I worked for a company that manufactured plastics early in my career. We had detailed statistics on how much we produced and what end use each pound of product went into. If you really wanted to know, all you had to do is ask. The Commerce Department also has detailed production numbers that they use to calculate GDP and other national income statistics. As much as I dislike and distrust the federal government, I've worked the Commerce Departments numbers for years and find them highly reliable.

This reminds me of the study that was done some years ago which concluded that increases in the minimum wage did not affect employment. They conducted the survey by having interns call Burger King restaurants and ask whichever high school kid assistant manager who answered the phone whether they had more or fewer total employees since the increase. Apparently it never occurred to them just to call up Burger King and ask for their employment records.

I'm also wondering how that straw I just threw in the trash gets into the ocean. Do people actually recycle straws? The trash guy comes around every Thursday and takes my trash to a landfill. Apparently someone comes around later and digs up my straw and throws it in the ocean.

TRISTRAM said...

Shipping weight of 100 32 oz plastic cups with flat lid: 6.4 lbs (https://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Cups-Lids-Disposable-Translucent/dp/B0748MXR4W/ref=sr_1_6_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1530803924&sr=1-6&keywords=32%2Boz%2Bdisposable%2Bcups&dpID=41eZ8azATtL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch&th=1)
That is, Shipping weight of 1000 cups with lids 64 lbs.

Shipping weight of 1000 7.75" straws: 1.2 lbs (https://www.amazon.com/7-75-Straight-Drinking-Straws-Black/dp/B071ZNTBS3?th=1)

Lets pretend say 25% of the cups shipping weight is packaging. So 48 lbs of plastic cups vs 1.2 pounds of straws. Again, no water bottles, baby bottles, soda bottles, food packaging, industrial plastic, building materials, furniture, just things that are sold together don't even add up to 7.5% of weight.

TRISTRAM said...

I'm just saying.

Big Mike said...

Plastic has a high BTU value; the most effective way to recycle plastics (other than #1 (PETE) or #2 (HDPE) ) is to incinerate it in a cogeneration electrical power plant.

Add to the list of good things about being married: I don’t have to worry about what my lady-love thinks about me when I’m drinking with a straw.

Wife chimes in with the point that straws are more sanitary than having your lips touch the rim of a glass that may have been held by wait staff that did not lavas their manos.

Big Mike said...

About landfills. Back when I lived in Montgomery County Maryland, the county had long before closed a landfill and decided that it was okay to zone it for light industry. But one of the things that seeps out of old landfills is methane, and when they permitted a welding shop to open in the area ...

jaydub said...

"That all depends on whether the US is dumping our ‘recycling’ in those countries."

Seriously? Are you saying we are shipping our recyclables halfway around the world to to the most populated areas in Asia and Africa and then dumping them in the 10 rivers cited in the research? If not, how does 90% of the plastic in the oceans get into those rivers and then flow into the sea? Ever been to Asia? There's more plastic on the highway between New Delhi and Mumbai than all the straws consumed in the US in a year.

W.Cook said...

How do you drink a smoothie or a good, thick milkshake without a straw? You might not like seeing men drink out of straws but I think they'd look like even bigger morons eating those things with a spoon or sipping from the cup and getting it all over their faces.

YoungHegelian said...

So, I get up this fine day after Independence Day & I read the morning's Althouse. What do I read?

Obviously no one's going to see you sipping a gin and tonic through a cocktail straw and yell, "Hey Sally, that guy looks like he's sucking a tiny dick!" You may not have even considered that straws look like penises until you read that. I'm sorry -- but knowing is better than not knowing.

So, jeez, now I'm a faggot! All this time I thought I was safe because I avoided "salmon" colored dress shirts & Broadway show tunes. But, no, it was the straws!

Boy, this is gonna be tough to explain to the Missus after 32 years of marriage!

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I want a straw in my drink when I am at a restaurant for sanitary and disease prevention reasons.

Many of the small Mom & Pop diners will use plastic drink glasses for ice-tea, sodas, and water. Over time those glasses, because THEY are plastic will get pitted, scratched and create a lovely environment for bacteria to cling...even when washed in a dishwasher. Often the glasses are not washed in a dishwasher, washed by hand by God knows who in the kitchen and touched by who knows who. The glasses are not necessarily clean.

Basically, I don't mind putting my lips on plastic glasses or any glass IN MY HOUSE. I do not want to put my lips on a glass used by someone who may have herpes or some other communicable diseases. Or a glass that has been touched by a person who is not very sanitary themselves. HAVE you ever seen the inside operations of some of those diner kitchens!

Probably not rational or scientific. However, it is MY position and if plastic straws are banned, I'm buying a giant box and taking them with me when I go out.

Note: Evidently it is also Big Mike's wife position about the lips touching the glass :-D

My husband uses straws when he drinks. I have never thought anything about it in terms of manly or attractive. It is drinking! get over it.

Ann Althouse said...

"Re: paper straws. I don't know if you've tried them as an adult but they are miserable. ... They swell and disintegrate if you don't slam your drink down instantly and leave it sitting for any length of time...."

Thanks for the flashback. I suddenly remember how we used to chew the ends of paper straws.

And that's how spitballing was invented!

Gahrie said...

If not, how does 90% of the plastic in the oceans get into those rivers and then flow into the sea? Ever been to Asia? There's more plastic on the highway between New Delhi and Mumbai than all the straws consumed in the US in a year.

Environmentalism is a First World/Western Civilization norm. Most cultures around the world suffer from the tragedy of the commons and no one gives a shit about littering and pollution.

Ann Althouse said...

"A "spitball" is a clump of paper that the prankster has chewed and made wet with saliva, to be thrown, spat, or blown at a person or object. If not removed from some types of surface, they dry and harden into a sort of paper cement. Small spitballs are often propelled by placing them in a straw or the shaft of a disassembled hollow pen and blowing through the other end. Larger spitballs are sometimes flicked with the fingers, a flexible ruler or through the use of a rubber band. Sometimes, whole sheets of paper are crumpled and inserted into the mouth for a period of up to five minutes to form a large spitball that is usually thrown manually."

Spitball — from a list of "School pranks" at Wikipedia.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Reusable metal straws can be purchased at Amazon.com. I recently got a set of spoon straws, which are perfect for ice cream floats and mojitos.

Known Unknown said...

"Of course I am monster that chews the soft(ened) ice, so there is that..."

Our BPs (Duchess shops) have the smaller softer ice cubes called "Chewy Ice" in their machines (as well as the traditional Chunky Ice). I love the chewy ice.

Professional lady said...

I always have plastic straws in my house for a family member that has cerebral palsy. That person's mother always carries around plastic straws in her purse. Just what she needs, one more aggravation on top of every thing else having to do with dealing with rules, regulations, and bureaucracy in caring for a handicapped child.

Original Mike said...

”Wife chimes in with the point that straws are more sanitary than having your lips touch the rim of a glass that may have been held by wait staff that did not lavas their manos.”

I’ve been having fun with this, but as someone who’s immune system is trying to kill him as it is, I think I’m going to start using straws a lot more frequently. It’s cleaner, and if it gets lefties panties in a wad so much the better.

Original Mike said...

I will draw the line at drinking my beer through a straw, however.

Breezy said...

I reduced my straw use significantly after I read they accelerate the wrinkling of lips. I’ve enough of those, thank you.

For those that use them though, why not simply make them from that biodegradable corn plastic?

Unknown said...

just throw a baked beans can, unwashed and slimed with residual baked-bean goo, into the recycle bin. The recycle fairly will take care of it.

I always assumed the blast furnace that melts the metal would burn off any organic goo.

Original Mike said...

”However, it is MY position and if plastic straws are banned, I'm buying a giant box and taking them with me when I go out.”

Me too. I can store them right next to my big stash of light bulbs.

Sal said...

I always use a spoon when enjoying a thick shake, but I keep my pinkie extended to avoid radiating too much testosterone.

PM said...

One neat trick is pressing the rim of a glass to your lips and with a twist of the wrist tipping in the beverage.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

How can you drink a milkshake without a straw? We actually bring our own when we order a take-out fruit milkshake from the local frosty, like pineapple. The straws they give us are too small and get clogged. SO, we bought a box of our own and use our larger diameter straws.

3. Dispose of straws and all the rest of your trash properly.

We do. (as best we can) We burn what we can, like cardboard, paper, even...gasp a couple of plastic straws. Everything else goes into the garbage cans. Trash, cans, bottles, old food. Vegetable stuff that can be composted goes into the compost bin. There is NO place to recycle.

Once a month we load them all up in the dually pick up bed and about 3 times a year load the hydraulic dump trailer with larger items, like used bladder tanks, wood, orchard trimmings when we can't burn etc. We go to the dump, throw it all out and a big front end loader comes to eventually scoop up the trash. What they do with it I don't know. We already paid them to dump our trash. That's their business.

Metal that we can recycle and get paid by the pound, we dismantle and take to the center about 120 miles away, once a year.

MadTownGuy said...

Argentinians most often drink their herbs mate through a metal straw (though I did see some locals who drank straight from a thermos cup). The straw has a filter at the end that goes into the cup to strain out the mate debris.

MadTownGuy said...

"Yerba mate" not herbs mate. Ugh.

Ann Althouse said...

"'Like the campus rape 20%, this statistic is so self-evidently absurd' Careful...Althouse has never rejected that rape statistic, despite many opportunities to do so."

I believe the statistic got started in the 1994 book "I Never Called It Rape: The Ms. Report on Recognizing, Fighting, and Surviving Date and Acquaintance Rape."

The key to understanding the statistic is understanding the category: what is the "it" that hadn't been called rape that should be included.

What do you want the percentage to be? If you want it to be as high as possible, include all the sex where the person didn't want to have sex but went through with it anyway. The "Cat Person" scenario.

If you want it to be as small as possible, say that it's not rape unless there is corroborating evidence that supports the victim's assertion that she tried as hard as she could to fight back or run away and was overpowered.

When was I ever in a position to agree or not agree with a proposition stated in a way that made enough sense to be worth responding to. I don't jump at every phony issue.

reader said...

Our high school banned straws because kids were winding them up and popping them. The school was going through boxes a day. Inappropriate use. Inappropriate discard. We are all high schoolers now, or at least treated like we are.

MadisonMan said...

But one of the things that seeps out of old landfills is methane, and when they permitted a welding shop to open in the area ...

...the shop had locally sourced methane? How economical!!

Check your health privilege.

Oh, I know! I am having a devil of a time getting rid of my latest cold. Phlegm be gone! But at my age (late 50s, almost -- sigh), I know a lot of people my age who are in the process of dying. What they're not worrying about: Recycling.

reader said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Owen said...

"...and that's how spitballs were invented!"

I remember my joy when plastic straws first appeared because they did not degrade when used to deliver a full unit of fire across the classroom towards a suitable adversary. And if confiscated they were cheap to replace; not like the teacher taking the barrel of your ballpoint pen, which left you unable to take notes.

As if we ever took notes. Little animals.

Owen said...

Prof A: "The key to understanding the statistic is understanding the category: what is the "it" that hadn't been called rape that should be included." Not just rape-rape (and, as you say, unwanted sex) but regretted or unconsented touching of any kind, on any site under any circumstances (slow dance? Steadying someone on a stair or on slippery surface?). And if even all that data-torture doesn't produce a sexy enough statistic, you can throw in discomfort because of cheesy jokes and calf-eyes at a distance.

Original Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Original Mike said...

Activists really do their cause a disservice when they exaggerate statistics. I don’t believe any of it anymore.

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

ask any camel with a bad back how they feel about straws

Unknown said...

But as of 55 I am still a kid. So drinking out of a cocktail straw is all the more fun because of the tiny size. Oh, and I really don't care what other people think about it. If they like to imagine guys sucking dick that says more about them than me.

Paul Mac said...

I'm fine with rational arguments against straws in general and men using them in particular. But it is worth noting in this "real men don't use straws" puffery that most of the examples cited as evidence are not in fact real men. Bruce Wayne, Harry Stamper, James Bond, Indiana Jones, John McLane. These are all fictional character, who also are never depicted dying jaundiced from cirrhosis. Two of them are in fact Bruce Willis.

Alcoholism isn't particularly manly I think, but if you follow this particular thread of reasoning you probably also can't be manly without if not being alcoholic at least being borderline so and significantly at risk of it.

Gahrie said...

When was I ever in a position to agree or not agree with a proposition stated in a way that made enough sense to be worth responding to

How about when I have asked you about working at an institution where 20% of the women get raped? Or even when I simply asked you if you believed that 20% of the women who attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison are raped?

Personally I don't think I could work somewhere that I thought that 20% of the women were getting raped. I wouldn't send my kids there either. In fact I'd think long and hard about burning it down.


Seriously...how hard is it to say that it is absurd to say that 20% of women who attend college are raped. That's worse than South Africa the rape capital of the world.

Anonymous said...

All these comments back and forth, and not a one mentions the reason I and other men use a straw: It keeps your mustache dry and un-soda-soaked.

Nothing worse - especially in this hot weather - than a sticky mustache stripe, from mid-upper-lip down, which is what you get when you take a big sip from a glass or cup.

The disapproving tut-tuttery from straw-haters is a small price to pay for a dry mustache.

dg said...

I use straws to drink the blood of unaccomanied immigrant children.

n.n said...

You don't wear shorts to avoid damage from thickets and carnivorous insects.

You don't use a straw to avoid being reduced to a near singularity in a plastic wormhole.

That said, straws, and shorts, should remain legal, because plastic straw manufacturers knew that their product contributed to formation of artificial islands and people transported through wormholes, and Obamacare (less granny's shared responsibility, for the temporarily subsidized, less the parents and children who are not).

Ralph L said...

a lot of people my age who are in the process of dying. What they're not worrying about: Recycling.

They're going for the big recycle with lots of carbon-fixing.

I remember trying to avoid moving the straw in a Slurpee until the horrendous noise and lack of intake required it.

Anthony said...

There might be something to this women-prefer-straws thing, if only that it messes up lipstick less than drinking from a cup does.

Straws are only good for the teeth if you make sure the tip is behind your teeth. I've found that to be awkward, but I don't care.

Whenever an "environmental group" puts out something "scientific" you can bet that 99% of the time the "study"was designed specifically to come up with the desired answer and is therefore crap.

Besides, all the hysteria about drinking straws is based on a stupid 9-years old's goofy little science project.

Every time I think the Left can't get any more childishly ridiculous, they somehow manage to lower the bar even more.

n.n said...

Use environmentally friendly bamboo straws, and mitigate the damage caused by recovery, processing, and recycling requirements of plastic, metal, etc. manufactured straws.

Birkel said...

I'm not sure a man gives a single, solitary, wet shit what somebody thinks about such trivia. People like Althouse enjoy such trivia, oddly.

Original Mike said...

”Straws are only good for the teeth if you make sure the tip is behind your teeth. I've found that to be awkward, but I don't care.”

Until this thread it never occurred to me that it was possible to use a straw any other way. That’s what sounds awkward to me, but I don’t have a straw handy to try it out.

Phil B said...

And a man drinking through a straw while wearing shorts - TOTALLY ANATHEMA!!

Anthony said...

I just noticed once that I was actually putting the tip in front of my teeth (may be my mouth structure).

Micha Elyi said...

<blockquote>The city of New York hauls immense barges of garbage out to sea and dumps them.
--"Unknown"</blockquote>
Also untrue. Not even The Grauniad makes that accusation.

! Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not allowed: BLOCKQUOTE

Alec Rawls said...

Women should be required to drink with straws.

Joe said...

I find straws very convenient when doing something else, especially reading or driving.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Could you imagine the outrage if a man somewhere was lecturing woman on what does or doesn't make them attractive?

I’m interested in your choice of the word “lecturing” above. It seems a lot more loaded than the opinions Althouse shared. There are times we discuss things that women do (“nice heels, Guilfoyle!”) or things that men do. Things that tend to increase or decrease one’s attractiveness. And somehow you feel lectured at by this post. Fascinating!

FIDO said...

Men use straws. Take away cups require them because I don't feel like painting the inside of my car with soda while I am driving if I have to make a sudden stop.

That being said, open glasses, less so. People with sensitive teeth probably also favor them, particularly considering how well iced our beverages are culturally.

Still, if she had NOT come to the conclusion that this afflicted girls, and only afflicted men, do you think that Ms. Althouse would give a rat's ass about this issue? Anyone?

FIDO said...

When was I ever in a position to agree or not agree with a proposition stated in a way that made enough sense to be worth responding to. I don't jump at every phony issue.


The issue isn't phony if that fake statistic is used to try to form policy...and has regularly been uttered by actual real life "no I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night' people like Ex President Obama.


(Relaxing sigh at the prospect of his being Ex President)

It is, however, a very POLARIZING issue. One which you probably hold very Unpopular opinions on. Because you have been very clear on how requesting sex when she isn't already panting for it should be Socially Anathema and probably deserving of divorce.

Pity Sex, Emotionally Balming Sex, "Generous Soul" sex or 'There is no Ru Paul to watch on T.V. tonight so why not fuck' sex is not in the Althousian lexicon.

So your choice to avoid what you define that percentage of rape is probably a wise...diplomatic...MARKETABLE(that's the word!) marketable one.


But don't try to sell the phony issue line. It's disingenuous.

FIDO said...

Still, she raises a good point. Since we can only adjust American policy, who gives a rat's behind about Sri Lankan straw usage and disposal.

The idea that a man doesn't use straws is to essentially ignore the evidence of every fast food restaurant that anyone has ever been inside.

That Ms. Althouse disapproves of male straw use is entirely unsurprising.

bagoh20 said...

Would a real man do or not do something just because some beta male, metrosexual, or ladies' mag told him to.

Of course not. I use straws to drink my hard liquor. I do it becuase a real man does whatever the hell he wants with his liquor.

When told that "real men don't do that", real men say "fuck off or I'll shove this straw through your skull".

PM said...

I bought a metal straw but only to tie Turks' Heads.

MountainMan said...

I really don't care how I look when I wear shorts or when I drink from a straw. I am 67 years old. I am retired. I don't have to impress anyone or worry about how I look to anyone. I don't care. I do what I want to do, that is one of the joys of retirement. However, I have to admit Professor, I think of you every morning when I put on my shorts for the day!

I wear shorts because they are practical. I have lived in the South all my life. In the South it is hot and humid all summer. Any man who doesn't wear shorts in the South whenever he can is an idiot. My standard daily attire is shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt. When I go out in the sun I put on a nice baseball cap. If I am meeting someone for lunch I might wear a shirt with a collar, like a nice golf shirt. All my retiree friends dress this way. Today my wife and I drove from our mountain home to our Atlanta area home because, believe it not, it is 10 deg F cooler in Georgia this weekend, but still hot and humid. I will wear shorts all weekend. Long pants are very uncomfortable, especially jeans.

I agree with DBQ on straws and being sanitary. I also like straws and a lid with plastic or paper cup because it is practical. You usually get these in a fast food place, and I don't have to worry about the drink getting knocked over by some bratty kid and spilling all over the table and me, plus I usually re-fill and take in the car with me. I have one sitting right by me in my recliner at home as I write this, so does my wife, that we brought home from lunch. If it gets knocked over it probably won't spill.

And the US contributes little to the ocean plastic problem. As pointed out in a nice post above, it all originates in 10 rivers in Asia and Africa. There have been numerous articles about this that are easy to find on Google. I have been to India and seen for myself the enormous quantities of trash in the rivers and lakes. You just wouldn't believe it. China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, etc., need to clean up their act. Banning plastic straws in Seattle is just more empty virtue signaling. I guess they have solved all their problems of unaffordable housing, homeless, drug use, etc.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Still, she raises a good point. Since we can only adjust American policy, who gives a rat's behind about Sri Lankan straw usage and disposal.

I think the point is that the people who drink a Slurpee or Iced Tea with a straw in IOWA (as an example) are being blamed for the gross pollution caused mostly by Asiatic people who just dump all their trash into the waterways and ultimately into the ocean.

So we punish Ma and Pa Frickett in Iowa. While the real polluters are not expected to change their ways. I'm pretty sure that Iowa does not connect with the Pacific Ocean or any Ocean.

Until EVERYONE worldwide gets with the program.....stuff 'em. Why should we be punished for other people's transgressions.

I'm using straws, incandescent light bulb and anything else that I want.

Owen said...

The persecution of straw-users in Iowa in order to do less than nothing about a problem that is centered on 10 rivers (7 of them in Asia) and their outfall into the oceans--

Exactly matches the persecution of natural gas users in flyover country to not address "carbon pollution" from coal-fired power generation in China and India.

Classic displacement activity.

Phil B said...

MountainMan:

OK then. Just tell me that you don't intend to wear capri pants!

prairie wind said...

I wanted to read all the comments but the whole paycheck thing gets in my way some days.

There is a statistic going around, that we wasteful Americans go through 500 million straws a day. Some kid came up with that estimate for a science project and people bought it.

There is an actual company that produces plastic straws, Tetra Pak Tubex. In 2010 when they were the largest manufacturer of straws, they produced 4 billion straws and sold them worldwide. That would be an eight-day supply, if that 500 million were correct. Even if Tetra has quadrupled its production since 2010, they would be producing only a month's supply. Ridiculous numbers.

I couldn't find more current production figures for Tetra but if I were making straws in today's straws-are-evil climate, I wouldn't post my numbers either.

I have every confidence that all of today's panic about how people are destroying the planet will come to naught. In 100 years--50 or 25 years or next year, even--the planet will be cleaner than it is now. Someone--one of those wasteful humans, probably--will find a way to deal with trash.

Thank you, jaydub, for posting some common sense. You probably weren't the only one but I didn't get through all of it.

prairie wind said...

nobody believes the 7.5% number, I see. That's good. Not even the environmentalists do:

But a ban may be a bit of a straw man in the discussions about plastics pollution. Straws make up about 4 percent of the plastic trash by piece, but far less by weight.

Straws on average weigh so little—about one sixty-seventh of an ounce or .42 grams—that all those billions of straws add up to only about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of plastic waste that yearly hits the waters.

Christopher Souza said...

“Straws are FOR WOMEN. The ban HURTS WOMEN. I happened to say back in 2016 "I absolutely loathe straws. The only reason for them is to pierce those plastic lids on take out cups. I especially hate seeing a man drinking from a straw."

On one hand, this is probably the dumbest thing Ann Althouse has ever written. On the other, it will probably be topped by the very next thing Ann Althouse writes.

bagoh20 said...

Isn't the whole planet supposed to be out of landfill space by now? That's what we were told in breathless condescending fashion when I was young.

The fact is that the entire landfill requirement for the U.S. for the next 300 years would fit in the footprint of a small town. I suggest a portion of San Francisco. That way there would be less transport required.

bagoh20 said...

90% of the plastic waste in the oceans is used condoms. I think I heard that someplace on the internet.

ALP said...

I ran across some really nice, long borosilicate glass straws months ago and have not looked back. I hate drinking water and tend to ignore how much I dehydrate. Straws do encourage me to drink more. Never could find plastic straws long enough and I got sick of looking; these glass straws are long enough for my tallest water bottle. I love them - they easy to clean with a pipe cleaner. It is a complete coincidence that I ended up ahead of the liberal Seattle curve.

I might even take this further and have some custom made straws festooned with dichro. Or maybe some wig wag.

bozonomous said...

how can condom sales be protected by the constitution, and straw sales not? its a product used in the privacy of your home. I don't see the legal distinction.

ccscientist said...

They want to ban everything, but will start with straws. 7.5% of trash is straws? what a BS number. I bet it isn't even measurable. Even the trash at a fast food place aren't 7% straws.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

what about cups and lids? Don't they have a say? Bigots.

n.n said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
n.n said...

We need a Planned Straw to implement selective-straw, or perhaps one-straw, in order to dispose and recycle unwanted straws in a socially-aware (i.e. woke) manner.

what about cups and lids? Don't they have a say? Bigots.

You're right. For every straw, there is a cup, and a lid, where the latter two are equal in number but greater in volume. So, now we have Cup Privilege and Lid Privilege. Bigots.

Tinderbox said...

Just more recent liberal insanity designed to distract from the lack of Russian collusion in the election.