Photos courtesy of FinalStraw
Our oceans are polluted. Marine wildlife is suffering. This is the final straw.
No, really. The most popular reusable straw in the world is called the FinalStraw.
Americans use enough straws to wrap around the Earth 2.5 times every day. That's a ton of plastic that winds up in landfills, oceans and in the bellies of poor marine animals. Just recently, Starbucks made the move to eliminate their use of straws altogether, opting for strawless lids instead. The company hopes to have zero straws available in all its stores by 2020.
FinalStraw is a reusable, stainless steel straw that folds up in a tiny case so you can bring it anywhere. It even comes with a cleaning tool and drying rack! The compatible, portable design is designed so that you can take it whenever you are. Make sure to ask for no straw!
With the company only coming together in 2017, these eco-friendly straws have taken over the world and changed the way young people think about plastic consumption.
500 million straws every single day - let's change.
In a recent National Geographic interview, Jenna Jamback says, “If you have the opportunity to make this choice and not to use a plastic straw, this can help keep this item off our beaches and raise awareness on plastic in the ocean,” says Jambeck, the University of Georgia engineering professor whose ground-breaking 2015 study was the first measurement of how much plastic debris enters the ocean every year. “And if you can make this one choice, maybe you can do even more."
Want another easy way to implement a waste-free product into your lifestyle? You can do so by visiting where you start your day every day (hopefully), brushing your teeth.
Brush with Bamboo is a plastic-free toothbrush, made entirely out of bamboo. Why? Over 4.7 billion plastic toothbrushes that will never biodegrade are dumped in landfills and oceans every year worldwide.
This California-based company is taking massive strides in spreading awareness about plastic consumption. Making the small change in your daily routine can not only reduce your personal waste, but eventually, it can soon become the norm to use biodegradable materials.
Mallory Arnold is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at marnold@cityscenemediagroup.com.
