Plastic. It’s around us everywhere. From bags, disposable containers, and water bottles, to heart valves and other life giving medical supplies. Plastic things are useful, inexpensive to make, and convenient. But there’s a dark side.
The hash tag, #PlasticSucks, is about bringing awareness to the dangers of plastics and offering a solution for types of plastics that might be the low-hanging fruit with the biggest impact, such as plastic straws. We view plastic straws as a simple item that can be responsibly eliminated and replaced in our lifetime.
These little items are thrown away by the millions each day, littered everywhere in our environment, and threaten many species of animals and sea-life. Did you know that over 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds die from plastic pollution every year? Plastic straws have been stuck in the nostrils of sea turtles and the viral video on social media of one being removed will cause anyone with a heart to consider quitting their use.
When the plastics we use go into the trash to be thrown “away”, they do not go “away”. One plastic straw takes at least 200 years to break down. But plastic doesn’t actually decompose, it just gets smaller and smaller. And it is toxic!
Plastic straws leach toxins into your beverages. Guess where they go next? Yep! Into the cells of your body. Pregnant women have been tested and found to have 1500 chemicals in their body. We are bombarded by toxins everywhere and plastics are one of those external contributors.
We can go on and on, and you probably know all of this already. But knowing doesn’t make a difference unless you take action. What can you do about this?
Okay, so this is an all out appeal for you to stop using plastic straws and champion a better way. We call this being Strawesome.
To be Strawesome means refusing plastic straws everywhere you go and if you want to use a straw, bringing your own reusable straw. It means being a magnet for others to ask you about your reusable straw, and you educating them about the harmful impacts of single-use plastic straws while encouraging them to become Strawesome too. It means you are a leader and a champion for the future. It means you are a positive impact on this planet as you’re sipping safely from your awesome glass straw. You are the new cool. You are the new trendsetter. You are loud and proud. You are Strawesome and no one can take that from you.
Sound good? Will you partner with us and be Strawesome?