In a world of travel where we hope to limit our footprint on the world around us and be more aware of our surroundings there are a lot of ways we can change up our basic routines to lessen our footprint. In recent years one of the most trendy ways to do so is through the elimination of plastic straws.
Sure we have all asked the question: How can a little straw make a difference?
Think big picture…
If at each meal you sit down to you have a drink and with that a straw that means at least 2 meals a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks in a year that is 728 straws per year.
Perhaps the attempt to eliminate something as simple as a straw is ground level effort to make a small impact daily to help us transition into bigger changes. As the saying goes “Short Steps Long Journey” , by taking baby steps we actually can start to slowly evolve our habits away from being as wasteful at home or on the road and lower our footprint over time.
So some might ask why even use a straw?? While this is a popular thought, reprogramming your mind to lessen your footprint and quitting cold turkey aren’t always the best way to form an actual habit and it stick. Finding alternatives to lessen the need is far more likely to work than suddenly shocking your mind into drinking out of a cup without a straw if you have been doing it for years.
So since we still need our comfort of our straw, what are our options?
Metal travel straws! Being able to be reused and washed a stainless steel straw can be purchased once and used for year to come. That means if you keep up with your straw for 5 years you have eliminated around 3,600 pieces of plastic, formerly used for straws.
But what are the benefits of using a Reusable Stainless Steel Straw??
Durable & Easy To Maintain
Unlike a lot of other eco-friendly alternatives stainless steel can withstand the test of time much more effectively. Glass straws often will start to crack and can be much more fragile while bamboo can form fungus in their porous interior over usage.
Cleaning is simplistic and can be done with a simple pipe cleaner style cleaning wand alongside a big of dish soap while additionally being able to be placed in the dishwasher without issue.
Portable
Much more sturdy than other options, the stainless steel straw can be placed in your purse or travel bag without fear of being destroyed by the motion of your items. This has a lot of advantage actually being able to be quickly accessed should you need it.
Ever had a friend show up with a drink you were no expecting? Well with your straw on hand you already are ready should you have a pop up surprise.
Most straws additionally have carrying pouches available which further keep your straw clean and free of any of the possible lint floating around in your bag. Some companies even focus on the traveler by pouches designed to be clipped onto daisy chains or your personal item to make it easier to pass through security at airports or accessed when outdoors.
Eco-Friendly
While we might already have dotted on the benefits of saving the environment one straw at a time by changing habits, the science behind the stainless steel straw is enough to by itself make you realize just how big of an impact limiting usage of the tiny items can have.
Have you ever seen those really sad photos of animals who have been killed by consuming what we discard in their environment? It is really sad to know that our waste which has been engineered actually is harmful in so many ways.
Say you use a straw at a restaurant and after you have completed your meal they clear the table and throw it into the garbage. That garbage then goes out to the dumpster where it is picked by the trash truck and taken to a landfill. Before it can be covered or recycled many times discarded items end up being picked over by animals and though we might think they are concentrated into these dump areas, that straw could be picked up and flown miles away to make a nest, dropped or even consumed.
Now of course this is just one scenario where we think we have done the responsible thing instead of just creating waste and dumping it out our window, but still even when we are using the items they are always going to have the ability to have a lasting negative effect in many instances, therefore it is important to find options like he straw which limit the margin of error.
So What Does All This Mean To A Person Traveling?
Do you like to be out on a beautiful beach and see trash washing up? Have you ever been on a hike and seen one of the natural beautiful places around you ruined by the careless disregard of others who have thrown their trash on the ground? Now think of how you can start the ripple of change on your travels by lessening your footprint. Stainless steel straws are a great way to start the change, something so simple yet so thought provoking.
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