Thanks to Lisa, a Green Neighbors member, we have decided to kick the plastic straw habit via the #refusethestraw campaign, and Lisa has made up a mini-flyer that you can hand out (or carry with you and just show) waiters, friends, etc as to why one should “refuse the straw.”

document: no straw green neighbors

(It prints out 4 mini-flyers per page.)

Fyi, I have been trying this for my New Year’s resolution, and one has to keep on top of things, because next thing you know, a drink is on your table – with a straw already there!   Think ahead, but also refuse the straw if it shows up, and help explain why.

So why are we doing this?  If you search for “Straws Killling Wildlife,” you’ll see.  Especially the turtle image.  Americans alone use approximately 500,000,000 straws per day (https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/plastic-straws-ocean-trash-environment/.)

But this has an impact beyond plastic straws winding up everywhere on our beaches…

“One of the most common plastic items ingested by seabirds are plastic straws from juice boxes. The plastic reduces the storage volume of their stomachs, ultimately causing them to starve. It’s estimated that 90 percent of all seabirds have eaten pieces of plastic.” https://blog.ukonserve.com/2016/09/23/straws-enviornment/.

Do we need the straw – except for smoothies?  No, of course not.  And for smoothies, bring your own straw, whether a reused plastic one, or a reusable one (you can buy them in bamboo or metal online.)  Or just let get your upper lip cold.  😉