Reusable Straws

flyinglentris said:
Flexible Plastic Straws

Flexible Plastic Straws

Flexible Plastic Straws
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A lot of countries have actually banned the sale and use of plastic straws. They fall under single use plastics.

In Australia, the ban of single use plastics includes free supermarket bags, straws, polystyrene bowls and plates, cups, stirring sticks, cutlery and so on. The phasing them out or complete ban started 1st February 2021, but it is different in each state as to when they have to be stopped entirely however most companies, restaurants, cafes and the likes take note that Australian consumers are very particular and have basically already stopped using them. Bamboo & paper straws are the alternative, cutlery for takeaway is the bamboo or another wood etc and a lot of places will ask (at least in NSW & ACT) if you have a straw rather than automatically provide you with one.

Personally I can't wait for the awful mesh plastic nets, plastic bags and food wrap to be phased out completely.
 
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We had the flexible plastic straws - here’s why I bought the reusable ones. It had little to do with the environment.

I had a box of 100 plastic straws. About the only time I used them was when making a highball of some sort on Sundays. They’ve appeared in many of my photos here.

More often than not, I’d say upwards of 80% of the time, I’d give my wife her drink and she’d take a sip and say, “This straw isn’t working, it has a hole in it somewhere.” - I’d sometimes go through three or four more straws before she’d find one that worked.

Normally, I’d chalk that up to cheap plastic straws, except that…I never had an issue with a bad straw, not once. I got in the habit of testing her straws first, they’d work, and as soon as she’d get one…”It’s not working.”

The last time I made her a drink, I kept my eye on her, because I thought, she has to be doing something, but how can you break a straw?

Well, I found out.

I watched her after giving her her drink, and the first thing she did, and I’m guessing she didn’t even realize she was doing it, was to pinch the straw between her thumb and finger, right where it flexes.

Sure enough, that split the straw, right in that spot. Mystery solved!

That’s what led to the reusable straws around here.
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
A lot of countries have actually banned the sale and use of plastic straws. They fall under single use plastics.

In Australia, the ban of single use plastics includes free supermarket bags, straws, polystyrene bowls and plates, cups, stirring sticks, cutlery and so on. The phasing them out or complete ban started 1st February 2021, but it is different in each state as to when they have to be stopped entirely however most companies, restaurants, cafes and the likes take note that Australian consumers are very particular and have basically already stopped using them. Bamboo & paper straws are the alternative, cutlery for takeaway is the bamboo or another wood etc and a lot of places will ask (at least in NSW & ACT) if you have a straw rather than automatically provide you with one.

Personally I can't wait for the awful mesh plastic nets, plastic bags and food wrap to be phased out completely.
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Scientists studying the problem of plastic wastes have recently been surprised by findings that micro-organisms worldwide have adapted to feeding on many (but not all) types of plastic waste items, breaking them down to smaller harmless molecular chains. These smaller molecules indicate ways to more easily recycle plastics in ways that simplify the processes. There are thousands of different microbes that have displayed the capacity to digest plastics, most of them, in the world's oceans, but others, terrestrial.
 
kaneohegirlinaz said:
I use a straw to drink everything but hot beverages since splitting open my lower lip and breaking my nose.
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I am given to believe that drinking alcohol through a straw will cause you to get drunk quicker. Whether that's true or not, I never drink through straws. I also don't drink direct from the bottle but mainly because that is inefficient.
 
Yorky said:
I am given to believe that drinking alcohol through a straw will cause you to get drunk quicker. Whether that's true or not, I never drink through straws. I also don't drink direct from the bottle but mainly because that is inefficient.
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I've heard the alcohol through a straw thing for years, but don't know how that could be true, unless you tend to drink faster that way.

On a HOT day in Texas, there is nothing better than pulling a longneck beer out of a cooler full of ice-water, popping the cap, and drinking it straight from the bottle.

Screen Shot 2022-05-04 at 10.07.31 PM.jpg


CD
 
flyinglentris said:
Scientists studying the problem of plastic wastes have recently been surprised by findings that micro-organisms worldwide have adapted to feeding on many (but not all) types of plastic waste items, breaking them down to smaller harmless molecular chains. These smaller molecules indicate ways to more easily recycle plastics in ways that simplify the processes. There are thousands of different microbes that have displayed the capacity to digest plastics, most of them, in the world's oceans, but others, terrestrial.
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All that tells me is how bad the situation is, and actually makes me deeply saddened by the state of affairs.
 
caseydog said:
On a HOT day in Texas, there is nothing better than pulling a longneck beer out of a cooler full of ice-water, popping the cap, and drinking it straight from the bottle.
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Until I moved east I hardly ever drank bottled beer, only draught. Now I find it awkward and also inefficient to drink beer through a 15mm diameter hole as opposed to a 65mm diameter glass.
 
Yorky said:
Until I moved east I hardly ever drank bottled beer, only draught. Now I find it awkward and also inefficient to drink beer through a 15mm diameter hole as opposed to a 65mm diameter glass.
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That’s how I am. As a young adult, I drank plenty of beer straight from bottles (and cans), until I moved to the UK. Now, even if it’s a pop/soda/fizzy drink, it goes in a glass. I think if I tried to drink something straight from the bottle/can, it’d probably just run all down my face and shirt. :laugh:
 
metal straws.png

These are the metal straws I use, they are as thick as the disposable ones.
 
Windigo said:
I'm planning to buy those, are they any good?
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I love mine, use them all the time. I'd recommend them to anyone.
Windigo said:
I have bamboo ones, but I've been told by the government that those are apparently toxic and should be discarded.
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toxic? wouldnt that mean all other bamboo cooking utensils/cutting boards made from bamboo be the same then...unless its specified about low quality items being toxic because that would make more sense.
 
Yorky said:
Until I moved east I hardly ever drank bottled beer, only draught. Now I find it awkward and also inefficient to drink beer through a 15mm diameter hole as opposed to a 65mm diameter glass.
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I can chug a bottled beer in seconds. Well I haven't done that in years, but I am sure I didn't forget how!
 
TastyReuben said:
That’s how I am. As a young adult, I drank plenty of beer straight from bottles (and cans), until I moved to the UK. Now, even if it’s a pop/soda/fizzy drink, it goes in a glass. I think if I tried to drink something straight from the bottle/can, it’d probably just run all down my face and shirt. :laugh:
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That actually happens to me when I drink beer from a glass!
 
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