Hi everyone!

I hope you all are having a great week. The weather has finally gotten warmer! Now I can start wearing all of my favorite clothes and putting away all of those heavy jackets and boots.

I went to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. back in September. After listening to some speakers, I went down to the vendor section of the convention center to go check out some books. My friends and I passed by the National Geographic kiosk where they handed us these free bamboo straws. I remember thinking, What am I going to do with this? Now, I carry this straw in my school backpack and when I go out to use it.

With this post, my aim is to show you how doing this very small and simple act of choosing reusable straws can greatly reduce our carbon footprint on earth. Let’s get into it!

Processed with VSCO with f2 preset — My bamboo reusable straw.

Why a reusable straw?

The well-known mantra of reuse, reduce, recycle encourages us to reuse what we can to reduce our carbon footprint, which means we must recycle. These are all essentials components towards ensuring each individuals does his, her, or their part in taking care of our environment.

Straws seem like very small and insignificant plastic items to ignore when it comes to recycling. At least that’s what I thought the first time I was told to start using reusable straws. Why not tackle something larger, like styrofoam?

Through the awareness of news articles, documentaries, and an environmental science class I take at school, I noticed that making the smallest changes lead to large gains, and also that these small plastic things like straws have contributed to more pollution than I imagined.

Think about the amount of times that we use a plastic straw once and then throw it away. We use one for about an hour or so when we go to a restaurant. Then, the straw, used only once, goes into the trash where it later thrown into a garbage truck, which later dumps the straw into a larger landfill where it just sits there between 100 to 500 years.

This straw, created for a one-time use that lasts for about an hour, sits on earth for hundreds of years. This realization became significant to me when I realized how many plastic straws I use in a day; from a Starbucks drink, to a Caprisun juice drink, to a beverage at a restaurant, I use straws all the time.

Ok… So?

There will be times when plastic straws are necessary; however, one way to reduce the amount of plastic on earth is by using reusable straws. There are so many awesome reusable straws that are cheap, come in portable containers and with cleaning tools. Carry these straws around in your purse, in your coat pocket, or keep one in the car.

There are so many awesome reusable straws that are cheap, come in portable containers and with cleaning tools. Carry these straws around in your purse, in your coat pocket, or keep one in the car.

Perhaps you might forget your reusable straw. It happens to me all of the time! Check out these easy tips that will help you avoid plastic straws:

Drink without a straw. If you are at a fast-food place and/or restaurant, take off the lid and enjoy sipping.
If you are at a restaurant, ask if they have paper straws. While these may get a little soggy, they will last for the time you are there.

Where can I get a reusable straw?

You can find one off of Amazon. My friend bought this amazing foldable straw on Amazon that she has attached to her keys. It comes with a cleaning tool and small case. Some stores sell them individually, too.

When you host parties and need straws, consider paper straws. So many stores use cute ones that are designed creatively. Perhaps you may want to serve drinks in glasses that do not require straws.

Interesting.

Indeed! I never thought that I would find myself using reusable straws, as I felt that they were too tedious to deal with and I mistakenly thought that something so small could change the amount of plastic left on earth.

I encourage you all to look for ways that you can reduce the amount of plastic straws you use. It might not be convenient; however, it helps the environment more than we know.

Thank you for reading! Have a wonderful week, and I look forward to talking with you all soon!

Quote of the post: