Banning plastic straws: Just another trend?

I remember a couple of years ago when plastic straws started to get banned from restaurants and more reusable straws started to sell online, in the grocery stores, and everywhere else! It seemed at that time, everyone was buying reusable straws, whether they were made of silicon or metal, people bought them like crazy. 

But now, where has the reusable straw hype gone? Was it simply just another purchasing phase, a new trend, and not actually powered by environmental awareness?

It was the next new fad on the block. Reusable straws were the new product everyone was talking about, purchasing, and flaunting in their cold Starbucks beverages. 

But then, some of these people may have had plastic straws in their home they hadn’t used yet. What about those straws? They will go to waste too. Part of being environmentally conscious is using the products you already have first, and then buying new eco-friendly products. People were rushing to buy plastic straws, without thinking about their actions first. It was a consumer mindset to purchase the next new product. 

Getting rid of plastic straws is great, we know how there is so much plastic waste in our world, including in our oceans which impacts sea life. And microplastics in our world is another negative impactMicroplastics are also having a negative effect on our world. But what about all the other products being sold with plastic in them? People shame others for not using a reusable straw, but then go buy bubble gum from the store, which believe it or not, has a form of plastic in it. 

Another aspect is plastic shopping bags. When you go grocery shopping, some stores have made their plastic bags cost 5 cents. They may think this is a good step to being eco-friendly; however, most people will just pay the 5 cents and move on with their day because of the convenience. Adding an extra 15 cents to their grocery bill is much easier than bringing in their reusable grocery bags, or if they even have those. However, if the plastic bags cost 5 dollars each, people would become more aware, and start bringing their own reusable bags when grocery shopping.  

So why not ban all plastic in our world? Why are plastic straws and plastic shopping bags such a main area of concern? 

Perhaps this plastic straw ban was simply another purchasing phase, trend, or new fad. When you go to a restaurant, most times your drink will come with a paper straw, but what about all the other plastic that is being produced from your meal? Especially in fast food, where the utensils are covered in plastic, and the take out cups with the plastic top piece. 

Plastic is all around us as we consume in our daily lives, so maybe we need to start making greater leaps to be environmentally cautious. There’s no point in banning plastic straws then going out to buy Ziploc bags.