If you’ve been at all conscious in the past few months, you’ve probably heard something about a plastic straw ban. Bars all over are going straw-free, Cairns Regional Council unanimously voted to phase out plastic straws in response to a 10-year-old girl’s campaign, and UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced in April that she hopes to ban the commercial use of disposable plastic products, and encouraged other Commonwealth leaders to do the same.
TIME traces the origins of the push to ban plastic straws to a video of a sea turtle having a straw removed from its nose, which is heartbreaking for anyone with a conscience.
However, what campaigns like The Last Straw have failed to consider are the needs of people with disabilities who rely on straws to be able to drink. Encouraging those who are able to to cut down on their plastic straw usage is a worthwhile cause, but blanket bans will make things even harder for disabled people, in a society that already makes little effort to accommodate them.
In an interview with the ABC, the Chief executive of ConnectAbility Australia, David Carey, said that although alternatives exist, none of them measure up in terms of convenience or safety, and the chart shown above points out the problems with each suggested replacement.
Plastic straws are the best option for several reasons: they can withstand high temperatures, they are bendable (think about when you’re lying in a hospital bed and need to drink through a straw because you can’t move your head), there’s less risk of spillage, they’re widely available, and they’re affordable.
Writing for The Huffington Post, Robyn Powell explained her need for plastic straws: “I have used plastic straws my entire life because I cannot pick up a cup. Without straws, I am unable to drink anything independently.” This is a result of arthrogryposis, a physical disability that affects both her arms and her legs. People with a variety of disabilities rely on plastic straws for their own reasons, and the option shouldn’t be eliminated for them in an effort to protect the environment.
Instead of straws can we ban the ridiculous plastic casing that basically every piece of small electronics or hygiene item seems to come in, making them impossible to open without a fucking battleaxe
— ?BIG QUEER BOOK SALE ALL MONTH✨ (@RoAnnaSylver) July 16, 2018
In addition, environmentalist campaigns that put the burden of responsibility on the consumer miss the point.
They provide a false sense of security by making people believe their individual actions are having a bigger impact than they really are, and can encourage complacency regarding real political change.
It ignores the fact that if all the straws that were scattered on coastlines around the world (roughly 8.3 billion) were suddenly swept into the ocean, they would still only account for .03% of the 8 million metric tons of plastic found in our oceans.
Meanwhile, 46% of the plastic found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from fishing nets.
*extremely Robert Smith voice* INTO THE SEA
Straws aside, responses that put the onus on individuals to recycle, or drive less, or fly less, or compost their waste ignore the fact that just eight companies pollute as much as the entire population of the United States. Without political action against major corporate polluters, individual responses to environmental problems are a drop in the bucket.
Oh okay @Starbucks…plastic straws are wasteful and harmful to the environment but wrapping gimmicky paper straws in plastic for individual sale is totally fine? Got it. ?? pic.twitter.com/nKR0FnzHHu
— Emily Ladau (@emily_ladau) July 17, 2018
A Reason.com investigation found that the plastic lids Starbucks is bringing in to replace straws will actually use more plastic than straws do, which exemplifies the tokenistic nature the gesture of banning plastic straws (as do the products in the tweet shown above – why bother with paper straws if you’re going to package them in plastic?!)
Instead of plastic as a whole, or corporations and big-name polluters, straws in particular have become the root of all evil, and only by banning them can companies hope to court the public’s favour. Sure, individual actions can make us feel like we have some control in the face of looming environmental disaster, but they’re a placebo without accompanying political action.
A better option? Make plastic straws an opt-in, and make it clear that you offer them for those that need them. Don’t ask people to ‘prove’ they really need them, just take them at their word when they say they do. And do something about those damn fishing nets.