People often talk about swapping out plastic straws for other materials to help the ocean/fish and the environment, but they also complain about paper straws falling apart easily. Other alternatives that are slightly more sturdy like straws made of straw don’t seem very common.

But do we even need straws? My first reaction was that any liquid can be drunk directly from the vessel it’s in, and straws just add another level of convenience. If we don’t want to use plastic straws and the alternatives mostly suck (actually all straws suck 🤓), why not just ditch straws entirely?

  • al4s@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    There’s a couple of reasons straws might be convenient or even necessary:

    • You have a disability that causes movement problems like shaking
    • Limited neck/shoulder/arm mobility or a swollen lip (The latter makes it hard to get a proper seal)
    • You wear lipstick or other makeup that could get washed away
    • Your edibles were too strong
    • You can build containers that don’t spill when they fall over

    (Edit: Add text at the beginning instead of just throwing a list out there)

    • bob_wiley@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      One more is for drinks with ice. I understand ice in drinks it’s common all over the world, but it is in the US. A straw let’s you get the drink without the ice. Drinking it right from the cup can be a problem. After a little while the ice forms into a big clump and sticks in the bottom and when you take a drink it will sometimes stay there, but other times it will break free and fly at your face. I normally order my drinks without ice for this reason. I hate trying to take a drink and the whole time I’m worried about the ice smashing me in the face, so I’m watching for any signs of movement so I can quickly put it down. There is also the issue of trying to get the drink without the nice when there are some free floating ice. Usually a person ends up having to chew some cubes here and there if they don’t want to spit them out like an animal. It’s not a big problem, but it’s a problem none the less.

    • jballs@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Your edibles were too strong

      A mistake easily avoidable. This only happens if you say “these edibles ain’t shit” 45 minutes after taking them.