A Week Without Straws: Day One

By Mackenzi Butson

via GIPHY

There’s so much beauty in the world; we don’t need to decorate it with litter.

Monday started a self-assigned week of no plastic straws for me. That’s right, no disposable straws. I’m doing this because straws we drink from in restaurants, coffee shops and fast food joints are one of the most discarded pieces of litter on our planet. With such an unnatural presence on Mother Earth, it’s easy to assume discarded straws are hurting the ecosystem.

Ghandi once said “Be the change you wish to see in this world;” here is my attempt as a busy, uber-stressed college student gearing up for finals.

I know a week without plastic straws seems like a small effort, but over 500,000,000 plastic straws are used each day in the United States, according to Plastic Pollution Coalition

Day One

Honestly, I thought it was going to be rather difficult not using straws, but day one was actually pretty easy.

Instead of stopping through the drive-thru at one of my favorite coffee shops, I made my own coffee in a reusable travel mug. I love waking up to the smell of freshly-brewed coffee, so I can definitely see myself cutting out that morning coffee run and replacing it with a fresh cup o’ joe with my cinnamon roll creamer. Yum!   

Throughout the day I was proud of myself for abstaining from drinking something with a straw and it was surprisingly effortless. There’s a correlation with plastic usage and eating take out. I noticed if I make my own food, and if I just fill my reusable water bottle there would be no plastic straw use for me. Crazy, right?

Plastic is everywhere in the world and society has made drinks more accessible with their chemicalized and contorted plastic molds. It’s difficult to differentiate between the easy way to consume and the eco-friendly way. I did find myself accidentally drinking from a disposable water bottle at work, it was so mindless. I didn’t even realize what I was drinking from until the water was half gone.

via GIPHY

I promptly chastised myself and vowed to try harder to be conscious of my plastic usage. Even though this week is one without straws, any piece of plastic that can be abstained from can’t hurt.