To just want plastic straws back!

[Malahide]

Lighthearted - mostly!

I’m so sick of paper straws turning to mush before a drink is even finished, they just aren’t fit for purpose. Add in the awful wooden cutlery that you now get (I want my salad to actually taste like salad, not wood!!) and the cardboard takeaway containers which begin to disintegrate as soon as they touch food and all of a sudden I’m reconsidering whether the planet is really worth saving…

I’m joking of course but surely I’m not the only one who feels this way? There have to be better alternatives out there than paper, wood & cardboard that just seem to ruin everything!

In Yugoslavia as a kid on holiday {years ago} the straws were actually STRAW.
They were wonderful.
Don't know why they can't make them nowadays.

They do!

https://www.mdsassociates.com/suck-on-straws-made-from-wheat#:~:text=When%20wheat%20straw%20is%20processed,stirrers%20and%20plastic%20drink%20straws.

A cafe in my town keeps serving in takeaway cups only as they are short staffed...and that is the sign of a bigger problem that is nothing to do with straws or single use plastic.

Agreed. Walmart wanted us to bag each item separately. So loaf of bread in one bag, jar of jam in another etc. People walking out of the shop with 90 plastic bags.

Cheese straws are nice

And with picture: they come in a felt roll.

I wish we lived in a parallel universe where they were good for the planet or something, so yanbu.

I am going to buy a metal straw I think as I really hate the paper ones. Is bringing cutlery out with me ott 🤔?

My kids have had a juice box with their packed lunches at holiday club this week. The crappy paper straws can't break through the foil.

Many places in the US have moved to compostable/biodegradable straws that feel and function like plastic but aren’t. They fooled me when I moved here and everyone that visits me thinks they’re plastic. Much, MUCH better than the awful paper ones.

We need to switch to those in the UK too!

Exactly. Best thing is to stop using straws, we don't need them. And I would add stop using any single use material. Just reusable plates and glasses.

We only have this planet, which needs a lot of change from us for the next generations to be able to live in it, and all we think is we don't like paper straws.

I bulk buy plastic straws from eBay. I’m not using shitty paper straws.

Completely glossing over the fact that many people do need them?

The metal ones taste weird.

I use silicone straws now.

I also have several reusable cold drink cups with lid and thick plastic straw.

Many people do need straws.

I know you aren't asking me this question, but I don't buy takeaway coffee, iced or otherwise, and smoothies and milkshakes are 🤢🤮🤢 I don't think I'm that unusual 😂

Not a fan of paper straws though, but I don't use straws much ....

I think it’s EU wide on both counts. Certainly the attached bottle lid is.

You can buy compostable straws that feel like plastic - I got a huge box from Amazon. Aldi sell them too.

OMG I nearly started a thread on this myself last week after struggling for the eleventy millionth time this summer holiday to pierce my kid's drinks carton with a shitty paper straw. They just bend and go flat! Sorry but some things are worth ruining the planet over!!

In all seriousness there must be a better alternative than paper. Some kind of starch-based thing? Bamboo? I don't know, I'm not a scientist.

All I know is that rich people are flying private jets left right and centre and I am fannying around with subpar children's drinks vessels. Where's the humanity!

Exactly!! What is the point ?

Agree.

I was coming here to say try the pasta straws. I think they’re great! Had one at a street party a few weeks ago and thought they were so much better than the paper ones.

Completely agree.
I wonder if I have a sensory issue with the wood because it makes my skin crawl.
I have taken to having a child's cutlery set in my bag as a result.
The straws are unusable IMO.

The worst is the hot milkshakes that Costa do. Hot drink + paper straw = paper mache. And in a plastic cup too.

This 😍

I adore our pasta straws!! They last for ages and you can have a nibble on them afterwards if you fancy🤣

I have sane menopausal friends telling me that the attached bottle tops are tipping them completely over the edge😁