Local Moralist Shakes Fist At People Who Use Plastic Straws

17/4/2018

By Ying Wong

Issue 7

Am I a bad person for hating straws and the people who use them?

Every time I see a friend or someone I respect using a straw, or a plastic cup, or some other form of single-use disposable plastic that is easy to replace with a reusable alternative, I shudder a little. My brain immediately whirrs, attempting justify why they might be using one. Are they a child? Have they lost sensation in their hands? Are they afraid to stain their teeth? Does this make it okay?

If there can be no logical reason, I’ve found I’ll pass a moral judgment on this person. I’ve never said this aloud because I’m afraid that this opinion makes me bad, arrogant, or just plain stupid (mind your own business, one might say).

Perhaps this is tied to some kind of superiority complex. I am, after all, someone who uses a KeepCup with religious fervour, and aggressively refuses plastic bags at the supermarket checkout. Perhaps it even makes me feel good to judge those who do not have the same ecological footprint as my own. These are the thoughts that keep me up at night.

WHY DO I GET A KICK OUT OF JUDGING PEOPLE WHO APPEAR NOT TO CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT??

IS THIS HOW VEGANS FEEL??????

The reason I have chosen to be especially vindictive against straws is because it’s very rare that one actually needs one. While there are some exceptions, there are remarkably few drinks that cannot be drunk directly from the lip of the cup (except bubble tea - I’m still sad that I can no longer bring myself to buy Chatime*). It is hence frustrating that some choose to indulge in the pleasure of sucking their drink like a baby on a teat for a total of 6 minutes, without considering the 450 years attached to that piece of plastic that will not break down in landfill, or end up in the ocean.

The Internet echo chamber has me believing that hundreds of thousands of other people have seen photos of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (look it up if you haven’t, guaranteed to make your eyes water), and are as horrified as I am by the Patch and by the other staggering statistics on plastic waste. There are believed to be 236,000 tonnes of plastic in the ocean, with up to 46,000 individual pieces per square kilometre.

I am therefore not suggesting that people are ignorant of the effect of disposable plastics on the environment, nor that they give zero fucks about it. It’s just a depressing thing when the global economy and the mechanics of capitalism encourage us to prioritise our immediate wants and impulses over the long-term effects of our decisions.

This is probably nothing more than a self-indulgent rant on how much I hate straws. But on the off-chance that I have awoken some fiery passion within you, maybe chuck a search in Google for “zero-waste alternatives”and see what you come up with. It’s surprisingly easy to make the switch and refuse a few extra bits of plastic in your day-to-day life.

Come to the dark side, we have canvas bags and reusable bottles.

Signing off,

Person looking forward to the Victorian ban on single-use plastic bags more than Christmas.

*There are large steel bubble-tea-sized straws available online to address such needs.

Fellow straw-shunner

17/4/2018 08:47:40 pm

I agree that single-use plastics are a huge concern, and I'm zealously trying to avoid them. I also totally relate to the strong emotions devastation of the environment can provoke, and how it's sometimes hard to stop myself conflating harmful products with people who use them.

I've read a few articles that made strong points around how some people with certain disabilities or health conditions rely on products like straws, and the importance of having an inclusive environmental movement! So that's something I try to be mindful of. Here's hoping really good alternatives that work for everyone keep being developed!

Ying

17/4/2018 10:11:30 pm

You raise a really important point here, and it's something I've given more thought to since submitting this piece - thank you! The health sector generates a great deal of plastic refuse, but this is absolutely necessary to maintain standards of hygiene, and to ease physical burdens on patients and others with disabilities. I wonder if there has been any active creative response to dealing with this issue, and it would very interesting to take note of. Good on you for saying no to straws if you don't need them!

Lachie

18/4/2018 12:28:21 am

I have the same response as you when I see people overusing plastic. But on the other hand, it's a cruel trick that the individual consumer now feels responsible for pollution which is overwhelmingly and needlessly produced by corporate entities.

The best known story about this is the "crying Indian" advertisement. It was funded by soft drink and packaging companies. The real polluters have convinced us that the choices which their product design encourages us to make are our own sins. And being plastic-free is a near-impossible moral standard to maintain. Everything comes in plastic, out of economic convenience. The public pays the hidden costs.

The other problem is that avoiding plastic is a low-reward activity given the mental work a person has to put in to keep it up. How many straws will you really save in a year? There are much more massive ways in which the average person destroys the planet which need not happen. A round trip plane flight to Europe is the equivalent of around a YEAR of the average person's carbon emissions. Refusing to travel outside of our sunny country would negate all the plastic straws you would ever suck in your life, and many other plastic products, in terms of raw damage to the planet. A very inconvenient and personally troubling truth for the average young person.

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Local Moralist Shakes Fist At People Who Use Plastic Straws

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