Editorial: The Environment Doesn’t Care That You Use a Metal Straw

Every current “environmentalist” believes that they are saving the turtles one trendy metal straw at a time. Maybe after seeing a few too many Facebook ads or feeling the pressure from friends, you own one too and buy into the anti-straw movement. With anti-straw policies popping up in Seattle and most recently in Colorado, the straw campaign has become the latest impulse buy of environmentalism — feel good in the movement and move on without making an impact.

Metal straws and straw bans may make the user feel like an eco-warrior, but it’s not what we use that makes us eco friendly. The straws are the product of the larger problem of eco-fads and trendy environmentalism, and we don’t actually want to help the environment, we just want to appear green to make ourselves feel like we made a difference.

With 250,000 people projected to die between 2030 to 2050 due to climate change according to World Health Organization, plastic straws are a first world environmental problem. Plastic straws only make up .03 percent of the plastic in the ocean, and for .03 percent, plastic straws seem like they are on par with with an oil spillage.

The entire anti-straw movement is based off the unverified statistic that Americans use 500 million straws a day — a stat that comes from a 9-year-old who surveyed straw manufacturers according to the New York Times — but market research puts American straw usage at 170 million per day. Obviously this is still an obscene number, but this inflated statistic is everywhere making it appear to be a larger problem than it is, leading to straw shaming and a false sense of being green when whipping out a metal straw at BRGR.

While the eco-faddie’s inflated sense of self importance isn’t hurting anyone, they certainly aren’t helping anyone (or the Earth for that matter). Emotionally satisfying decisions aren’t going to purify the air or limit the size of the garbage island floating in the Pacific Ocean that is twice the size of France, and they can even distract from the cause because they create a sense of false complacency.

They even occasionally hurt the cause and place fixation on issues that .03 percent matter (tackle the fishing industry if you really want to save marine life). People use their metal straw five times, but really it would take thousands of uses to for it to even out the environmental toll of manufacturing the metal straw. But due to the internalized idea that the individual is directly saving turtles by using a reusable straw, the industry continues.

Because of a singular viral video of one turtle with a straw stuck up their nose, turtles have become the face of the anti-straw movement. While 52 percent of turtles have swallowed plastic debris according to an international study by the University of Queensland, it’s not straws but fishing gear, plastic bags and balloons that are most harmful to marine life. Turtles consume plastic bags thinking they are jellyfish, so eco warriors: don’t act like you care about the turtles if you bought your metal straw at Target and put it in a plastic bag at check out.

Eighty percent of environmental damage is caused by 100 companies, so don’t blame the individuals for their straw usage, or feel too good about yourself, metal straw users. However, the real good that has come out of the anti-straw movement is awareness of throw-away culture, but that goes beyond reusable straws.

Only giving out straws when asked is a reasonable way to try phase out wasteful straw usage, but there is a false sense of accomplishment that comes with these bans. Protecting the environment isn’t about one fell good action, it’s about focusing on being sustainable.

If you want to do a little action that actually has more impact than the metal straw, try something as small as having the correct tire pressure or carpooling, which can reduce your fuel consumption dramatically. As for purchases, buy less, reduce waste, save money — it’s a win all around. The food system is the largest consumer of natural resources and emitter of greenhouse gases, and a third of all food is thrown out, so buy ugly fruit — the food that’s thrown out the most.

The anti-straw movement does highlight the impact little everyday actions have on the environment, but it’s not an excuse to put ourselves on an environmental moral high ground. Not using balloons and ugly fruit isn’t as glamorous as posting a selfie with your silver straw captioned #lovemyearth and don’t have the same feel good moment as some eco-trends, but they are just as important or even more.

editorial cartoon by Lilah Powlas