The Problem With Plastic Straws
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Plastic straws don't fully biodegrade, which means it doesn't ever completely break down.
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Plastic straws break down into small pieces which could then be ingested by marine life, specifically small.
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Plastic straws (and all plastics) let out harmful toxins when they are breaking down which can cause cancer and immune system and fertility failure.
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A small percentage of recycled plastic straws make it to recycling and essentially every piece of plastic is still in our environment.
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Due to the items that plastic is made out of, nothing in nature can fully break it down.
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Plastic straws are not recyclable and when trash is being sorted, they are so small that they fall through the cracks and get sent to the landfill.
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They are thrown on beaches and swept by the wind or blown by the current into the ocean.
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Americans use 500 million plastic straws every day, which could fill more than 125 large school buses per day.
Restaurant Flyer
Do you have a favorite restaurant that hands out plastic straws?
If you do, print out this flyer and bring it in when you dine at restaurants. Hand the flyer to the waiter/waitress or, even better, the restaurant manager. If you are too shy to do so, leave it on the table before you leave.
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If I can make a difference, so can you! Help me by spreading the Skip the Plastic Straw message to your favorite restaurants so they too can do their part to protect our environment and ocean. Click the button below to download and print the flyer!
Links
Captain Planet Foundation has been working collaboratively to engage and empower young people to be problem solvers for the planet. Click link to read more about their work with youth and schools through these three programs: Planeteer Alliance, Project Learning Garden and Project Hero. We are proud to be board members of Captain Planet Foundation's Wisdom Council 2021-2023.
Click on the links below for more information about single-use plastics and check out the HBO Vice video at the end of the page too.
Lonely Whale is an incubator for courageous ideas that drive impactful market-based change on behalf of our ocean. Here is their Public Service Announcement video with a cool tagline "Stop sucking".
Plastic Pollution Coalition is a growing global alliance of individuals, organizations, businesses, and policymakers working toward a world free of plastic pollution and its toxic impacts on humans, animals, waterways and oceans, and the environment.
The PADI AWARE works to rid the oceans of marine debris, much of it plastics.
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The Last Plastic Straw strives to educate the public about the absurdity of single-use plastic, its effects on our health, our environment, and our oceans.
This site has some posters and infographics you can download
