Why You Should Stop Using Drinking Straws

At first, straw was simply a bottle thing. Using it became a habit, and now it doesn’t look awkward drinking water from a glass using a straw. Everyone is now using a straw and restaurants, hotels and cafes aren’t losing their customers with an excuse of trying to save a life or conserve the environment. 

You’ll always get enough reasons to use a straw. You’ll even be advised that it is better when it comes to hygiene, teeth and many other things. The truth is, using a straw has its benefits just like shooting yourself in the head to avoid being captured, tortured and eaten by a cannibal in the middle of nowhere. 

The question is, is it advisable to take your life with an excuse of trying to avoid a nightmare you’ve predicted or should you wait and see what would happen with a hope that nothing bad will happen? Well, it depends with you. Dangers of not using a straw are predicted and are unlikely to occur. Benefits of not using a straw are quite clear, but before we go deeper into this, let us first analyse some of the reasons, using a straw is nothing but a luxury. 

WHY USING A STRAW IS NOTHING BUT A LUXURY

You’ll always come across more than enough reasons to use a straw, but if you also go through some of the latest findings, you’ll realize that it is nothing but a luxury you can easily survive without. The question is, are they worth it? To understand what this means, here are some of the reasons using a straw is becoming popular and why it is useless.

CLAIMED BENEFITS OF USING A STRAW AND WHY THEY ARE USELESS

Prevents tooth decay: It is claimed that using a straw while drinking soda is one of the best ways to reduce chances of tooth decay, why? Simple, because it reduces the amount of time the soda you are drinking comes into contact with your teeth hence vital for teeth hygiene. That is quite understandable. 

The question is, why are people served a glass of water with straws? Is it to prevent the amount of time the water spends on your teeth? Of course not. The other fact is that most of the things that come into contact with your teeth, for example, the chocolate bars, sweets, biscuits and more will stimulate decay, meaning that, your teeth hygiene depends on how you value it. 

Your glass might be dirty: Another useless benefit of using a straw is always to assume that your glass is dirty and drinking directly from it might be a health hazard to you. First of all, you will be drinking from a dirty glass, and the worst part is that the water you are drinking will have already absorbed the dirt from it. In summary, the dirt will be inside the water you are drinking and not the glass. Unless the straws have filters to separate the water from dirt, you will be drinking dirty water, making the straw useless.

According to recent research findings, continuous use of straws is becoming nothing less than a threat to the environment. It was also estimated that approximately 300-500 millions of straws are used each and every day. One of the reasons the use of straws is becoming a bother globally is the fact that they are not reusable hence contributes a lot to environmental pollution. Apart from being a threat to the environment, continuous use of straws has also proven to be more of a danger to humans than a benefit. Here are some of the reasons why we should stop using drinking straws.

REASONS YOU SHOULD STOP USING DRINKING STRAWS 

PLASTICS DON’T DEGRADE EASILY

Petroleum plastics doesn’t degrade easily meaning that they will last forever when disposed of in an environment. These plastics accumulate in the soils, oceans and as a result releases hazardous toxins that in turn pollutes the aquatic systems as well the soils. In summary, continuous disposal of petroleum plastics will destroy the environment. 

YOU ARE TRANSFERRING DANGEROUS TOXINS INTO YOUR BODY

Plastic straws are made of toxic chemicals. To use a straw, you have to place it into your mouth meaning that these chemicals come in contact with your saliva that you swallow with the drink. Among these chemicals is petroleum that is known to be hazardous to a human body. The only way to save yourself the trouble is to stop using the straws.

PLASTIC STRAWS CAN LEAD TO EXTINCTION OF MARINE ANIMALS

Apart from being a threat to human survival, chemicals released from plastic straws when disposed of are proven to have the ability to kill marine animals. According to research findings from North Pacific alone, approximately, 24,000 tons of petroleum plastics are digested by fish. One of the main reason this is true is that plastic straws are light and can be easily swept into the sea by wind. Since there is no proper disposal of straws established, marine life is at threat.

CONTINUOUS USE OF STRAWS WILL CAUSE WRINKLES AROUND YOUR LIPS

The last thing you want to hear is that if you use a straw more often, you will age faster. Well, it is the truth. According to latest findings, the source of frown lines around the lips is the use of straws. While drinking from a straw, you have to re-size your lips to fit around the small straw. This, in turn, shrinks the lips hence cause the frown lines around the lips.

YOU DON’T NEED IT

Last but not least, there is no real benefit of using a straw. Apart from benefiting you, it endangers your surroundings. Stop it because it isn’t worth it plus it makes you look like a child who can’t hold a glass or a bottle of water. Using a straw is just not a requirement but an adopted habit that should be stopped. 

In summary, use of plastic straws is nothing more than a luxury that is also unfriendly to the environment. They are less beneficial yet harmful. They can kill marine animals that is also our primary source of food. Campaigning against use of straws will not only save the environment from pollution but also save the cafes and beverage sellers the unnecessary cost that comes with purchasing it. An environment free of toxic substances is everyone’s dream, and there is no way better to achieve this than doing away with less helpful toxic substances such as plastic straws.