We agree that before the COVID 19 pandemic, the use of straws was a matter of taste, there are those who like to use it, for various reasons (although there are drinks that do well, such as a margarita), or, there are also those who prefer not to use it.
But nowadays it is convenient to use straws, due to the pandemic, and especially in public establishments, such as cafeterias, restaurants, hospitals, events, etc.
For all of the above reasons, it is important that we are aware of the environmentally-friendly options that the straw market has to offer.
First, we can talk about the reusable straws, where we can group stainless steel, glass and bamboo.
As for their advantages, it is clear that at least stainless steel and glass offer cleanliness and elegance, we cannot say the same about bamboo, at least not as much as the two previous ones, since sometimes they release a slight touch of wood, and because of their heterogeneity sometimes you have to sip hard.
The steel ones you can carry them in a case and take them wherever you want, but the glass ones would be a bit risky to carry because of the fragile nature of the glass. Both are made of thermally conductive material, not suitable for hot beverages.
Then there are paper straws, with many more disadvantages than advantages, since paper, due to its high disposability and low recyclability (in the application of straws), is highly polluting, especially due to the volume it generates.
Another major disadvantage is that its performance is far from optimal; it is common for the straw to weaken rapidly while you use it.
The last option we will analyze is bio-plastic straws, whether biodegradable or bio-based.
These are straws that you can currently find in many places, made of different materials, such as agave, starch, wood, etc.
Their advantages are that they are easy to obtain anywhere, lightweight and low-priced.
As for its disadvantages, it is important to mention that the fact that a straw is made with a bio-plastic still has a percentage of common polymer, although the trend of producers is to gradually reduce the use of polymers, the development of new technologies will surely help us to achieve that goal.
Also a fact to take into account is that although a straw is biodegradable, it is not appropriate to dispose of it as any other waste, since in order for the materials to degrade they must be subjected to certain environmental factors such as humidity, temperature, pressure, etc.
By: Eduardo Rivera
Main picture: unsplash.com / SWZLE
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