As of late 2018, the #NoStrawMovement has kicked in. People were so quick to switching to stainless straws, to reduce single-use of plastic straws. The logic behind it is simple, stainless straws made it possible to reuse straws as many times as we want because we can wash it, unlike those single-use plastic straws. In a glance, they do sound more environmentally friendly than plastic straws, but are they really, though?
Various research have been conducted, by analyzing and comparing the effects of straws made by various materials, and surprisingly, stainless straws emit the more CO2 emissions than straws made of other materials (plastic, bamboo, glass, and paper).
So, is the campaign for stainless straws correct? Since apparently, they leave more carbon footprints than the orthodox plastic straws. Stainless straws went completely against what we're originally fighting for to combat climate change: less carbon footprints. Are there better alternatives? Yes, there are. Paper or bamboo-made straws arguably leave less carbon footprints than stainless straws. Either use paper or bamboo straws or no straws at all.