Thank you for committing to this 30 Day Christian Green Living Challenge with us! Each day as we step through our journey, I’ll share the challenge for the day then, depending on your green goals, I will share resources where you can learn more, dig deeper into the topic, or challenge yourself even more. We will do the challenge once *live* together, but you can participate anytime by joining in on the comments below and by using the hashtag #ChristianGreenLiving. So, when you’re ready, let’s Go Christian Green!
Plastic staws. I personally enjoy straws, so why would I dedicate a whole day of our challenge to “ditching” them? I’m not actually asking you to stop using straws completely if you really need them, but I would like to challenge our use of plastic disposable straws.
It’s estimated that in the United States alone, we use 500 million plastic disposable straws per day.
Per day. Each day. Everyday. YIKES! That is an amazing number to me. It’s enough to go around the entire earth more than twice per day!
AND, because of their size, shape, and type of plastic, plastic straws are not recyclable. They are too light and too hard to separate by recycling equipment, so even if your recycling program accepts number 5 plastic, the straws (and most likely everything in the bag with them) will still end up in the trash.
With so many straws being used every day, it’s no surprise that so many of them end up in the ocean. And the bad news is once they reach the ocean, they don’t fully decompose. Instead, they break down into tiny pieces of plastic termed “microplastics” and end up in fish and wildlife as mistaken food.
The list of the ways plastic straws are bad for the environment goes on and on. You can learn more about some of them HERE, HERE and HERE.
Today’s Day 17 Challenge:
Do you and your family routinely use plastic disposable straws? Have you thought about the impact they have on the environment?
Pray
In our prayers today, let’s pray for consumers and businesses to seek, find and/or develop sustainable alternatives to end the use of plastic disposable straws.
Act
Today, take some time to consider your family’s use of straws. Can you live without them? Can you try eco-friendly and reusable alternatives like compostable plastic, paper, silicone, glass or stainless steel? They all come with advantages and disadvantages, so do your homework. Try going a week without plastic straws. If you really need one for your drinks when you’re out, be sure to pack your own and refuse plastic at restaurants.
Bonus Action: Be an activist — Talk with or write a nice note asking the owners of the restaurant to only offer straws when requested and to use eco-friendly straws like THESE.
Share
Don’t forget to share — Comment below and/or use the hashtag #ChristianGreenLiving!
Learn More~
- Product Review: Blossom uCap Silicone Mason Jar Straw Lids & Silicone Straws — by Darlene Goes Green
- The Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws – Facts, Statistics, and Infographic — from Get Green Now
- Are Drinking Straws Dangerous — by Emily DiFrisco and Jackie Nuñez via Plastic Pollution Collation
- Understanding Plastic Pollution — by StrawlessOcean.org
Click here to go to Day 18
Ready to pin! Thanks for sharing!
We use the metal ones in our home. It’s defintely harder though to not get plastic straws when you go
through the drive thru at restaurants. Defintely need to work on requesting no straws.