Margarita, With a Straw

"I do not want to protect the environment, I want to help create a world where the environment doesn't need protecting".
I read this quote on the internet and fell in love with it!! I truly believe that the greatest threat to the planet is our belief that someone else will protect it. In our busy lives we ignore the fact that small acts, when multiplied by millions of people can transform the world. In a survey by the United Nations Global Compact of 766 CEOs worldwide,

• 93 percent said sustainability issues will be a critical factor to the future success of their business
• 91 percent said they'd employ various sustainable technologies like renewable energies in the next five years
• 96 percent said sustainability should be fully integrated in business strategy;
• 88 percent said sustainability should be integrated into the supply chain.

I wonder whether they realized these insights while sipping with a "plastic" straws.
Although, it is true that plastic straws are a very a small part of the waste stream, but enough these straws are thrown away in the United States each year to fill up Yankee Stadium nine times over.
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) wrote that, if businesses and countries want to accomplish their various sustainability objectives, they need to treat environmental compliance as the gateway to success.
Recently, campaigns to curb plastic straw use is gathering steam. However, this campaign is not about banning the use of straws, it is about being responsible in choosing a better option. It is an awareness issue since the marginal cost of replacement is very thin. Restaurants and other service industry partners who use straws need to give a choice to their customers between a petroleum-based product that is not recyclable or biodegradable and a natural agricultural product that is hand harvested, hand cut, and biodegradable.
The fact as of today is,

• Plastic waste makes up between 60 to 80% of total marine debris."
• In the UK alone, on average 3.5 million McDonald's customers per day buy a drink with a straw. That means 3.5 million straws a day are discarded just by McDonald's customers in UK alone.
• Scientists estimate that every year at least 1 million seabirds, 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles die when they entangle themselves in, or ingest plastic pollution."

But here is the truth. We have used plastic straws your entire life and they are everywhere. We get it with our juice, we get it with our coffee, our cocktail and every single waitress hands you one with your dinner at a restaurant. Straws are skinny and we use are blissfully ignorant of their existence in our lives. Also it is not a big chunk of plastic. However let's do a little bit of math.
There are 7 billion humans on Earth. Assuming that 3 billion of them use about 2 straws each day, its 6 billion straws a day. One plastic straw weighs.03gms approximately which means 195 tons of plastics disposed every day, which is a staggering number. The plastic straws do not seem to be skinny anymore now.
Here are some facts about Plastic straws:
• They can't be recycled
• People only use them ONE time
• Can't be put in the dishwasher or boiling water, because they get too hot. There is possibility of chemical reactions which may release toxins that will go in the body when reused.
• Plastic degrades very slowly and almost lasts forever
• Fossil fuels are used to make to make plastic straws
• Plastic straws are one of the Top Ten littered products picked up on the beach.
• Plastic Straws rank in the Top 10 for marine debris
• Straws are easily swept up into gyres
• Straws along with other plastics can kill marine life
But what about them who wants their margarita with a straw?
People are working to make this possible. Straws made from straws are the stylish, sustainable, eco-friendly alternative to plastic straws that we didn't even know but we've been waiting for!
A straw from straw is an all-natural, organic, sustainably-farmed, 100% biodegradable straw made from hand-harvested, hand cut winter rye. It is hygienic, flavor-neutral, FDA-approved as a food contact substance, and naturally cured for durability to stand up to that ice in your mojito. They're also beautiful.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9193976