Do single-use plastic bans work?
The problems caused by plastic waste are rapidly increasing around the globe, but it still serves a useful purpose in food packaging. Can plastic still be a green option?
In many countries, plastic straws are increasingly hard to come by. In the UK, where I live, they were banned completely at the end of 2020 along with plastic coffee stirrers. So when I am offered a straw in a restaurant or café now, it's usually made of paper.
But these paper straws bend and go limp after a few minutes in my drink, and in the end they all go in the general waste, either to an incinerator to be burned to produce energy, or to landfill.
Do I really want a paper straw? I am lucky enough to be able to lift that glass to my lips, so I might as well do so. And just like that, a step towards zero waste...
