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Why plastic straw bans aren’t the answer. So recently I had lunch with @spzen and she went to buy her fav toast box's iced milk tea and they are pushing for a no-straw movement. And this kept me wondering if these bans are effective for the environment? Or the action we have is so minimal that it doesn't have any impact? So this movement is been awhile, and I think it started with KFC. And now a lot of F&B outlet has been following these trends to show that they are enviroment friendly. This help to showcase a better CSR for their corporate identity. But is straw ban really effective? Plastic straw only made up 0.25% of the total mass of ocean trash. If every straw is about 0.4 grams, we will throw around 3,320 metric tonnes of straw. You may think it is a lot. But wait for it. We have 8,000,000 metric tons of plastic waste in the ocean. So just a small part of the waste is made up of straw. But the idea of going straw-free is easy to implement. Maybe in the future we will up the game a bit more? So there are tons of alternative to straws nowadays. I have tried paper and metal, Paper will get soggy very fast and it has a very unpleasant taste to it. Whereas metal ones are dangerous. A friend of mine once told me that someone dies chocking of a metal straw. And I have a habit of biting straw too. I don't think I wanna go see the dentist so often. Currently, the alternative is well elaborated. You can choose from all sort of materials! I wonder where can I try pasta straw? Pastamania? So, banning straw are minimally effective to save the environment Compared to 3,320 tonnes of straws, I think the fishing net is a bigger problem. I am also not saying I will give up eating salmons and tuna. hahaha. I think food packaging waste is more of a practical approach to plastic waste. I came across Carlsberg have ditch plastic wrapping for a new glue technology. I will give kudos to Carlsberg for this ingenious approach to better waste management. So the next time we go to an eatery or f&b establishment, don't need to feel guilty. You can just continue to use a straw. If not how I drink my boba tea! Watch the video here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CAim_uGjcI