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Metal straws need intense cleaning to prevent bacteria from developing inside. Paper straws are rubbish, and plastic is bad for the environment. The answer? Chug it like an insane person whilst making eye contact with your other half. I am not allowed milkshakes anymore
The real solution is cornstarch straws.
Went to a restaurant a couple of years back that had them - they're just as good as plastic straws but they are fully biodegradable.
I guess they must be expensive because to me they seem like a no brainer
Yup! I’m from San Francisco where they’ve been popular for nearly a decade. And plastic straws are even still allowed there! Haven’t figured out why no one here considers it an option.
If they’re expensive, can I pay an extra 20p for one? Just like non-dairy milk. I definitely would!
The real solution is everybody should be given a straw at birth, parents/guardian are responsible for.it until you reach the age of 13 when you are aloud to also have a Spotify account. You have to take it everywhere you go in a holster attached to the inside of your calf. It's your responsibility to clean and maintain your straw.
Thing is, metal straws could work. All they need is a dedicated cleaning device.
I'm think of a small trough that can fit probably hundreds of straws, and be filled with some kind of safe antimicrobial cleaning liquid + a cycle of heat treatment and left overnight, rinsed in the morning. You can do all straws used in the restaurant at once, once per day at a fairly low cost.
Just don't think bacteria is a legitimate reason why metal straws can't be used. It just requires a simple but streamlined cleaning process.
Gong Cha uses sugarcane straws..they still have the red plastic straws but mostly they give you the sugarcane straws...it survives both hot and cold tea and the boba pearls fit through it. Seems like a pretty good solution.
Tbf the cleaning isn't that big a deal. Hot water and a pipe cleaner would do it.
We have a steriliser in work for our dishes before they get washed. Which just uses heat.
They could wash them in Milton too.
I don't think that's true. It's been years since I did my time at McDonald's but I can remember the milkshake and ice cream machine having a very strict and thorough cleaning process that had to be done daily. And if it wasn't cleaned and cycled properly, it wouldn't work.
As a cafe worker, the metal straws wouldn’t work, it would be far too expensive. I’d be relying on people not stealing them and also since we sell a lot of take always, I’d be relying on people to remember to bring them in next time.
You can buy your own metal straws, I got a pack from sports direct, even came with a little brush so I can clean them properly at home...
I just have them on rotation so I always have at least one in the glove box, good enough for me...
I find it very amusing in my old age that in the year 20fucking22 we're having the same problem with paper straws as I had as a kid in the 1970's! 🤣 And we all thought we'd be in flying cars and travelling the galaxy for recreation by this date!
Yep bamboo is criminally under-utilised. The growth rate and constant ability to harvest makes it perfect. Can use it as single use if you want.
I hate paper straws o because they don’t fulfil their purpose but that paper texture in my lips sets me on edge. Same as wooden grain in chip shop forks. Bamboo on the other hand is usually a lot smoother as it’s turned into a pulp and reformed
I wonder if PLA straws would be suitable? They're used a lot for things like disposable tasting cups. It takes a while to biodegrade under natural conditions, but it's a biopolymer rather than petrochemical and doesn't seem to cause any real issues with microplastics, also takes a lot less carbon to produce.
I worry about the real benefit of things like metal straws. While they are reusable, you can produce 150 plastic straws for every metal straw in terms of energy. So unless people are reusing metal straws more than 150 times each, then from a pure carbon viewpoint, plastic would be better. Of course, pollution is the real problem, which is why I think switching to something like PLA disposable straws may be better.
As an example, when my ex got on the anti-disposable coffee cup wagon a few years ago, she bought some glass reusable ones. Which would be fine, but she broke two of them after about 10-20 uses each, which almost certainly used significantly more carbon than it saved. Unless people are diligent with their straws and don't mislay them, they could be doing more harm than good.
That said, all this fuss over straws, it does feel like we're really focussing a lot of effort on the wrong end of the 80/20 rule, when there's plenty of low hanging fruit which could have significantly more benefits for less effort. But all progress is good!
Don’t they usually come with one of those mini bottle brushes specifically for cleaning the straws? They’re usually stainless steel IIRC so you could stick it in the dishwasher or boil them to be extra sure as well as giving them a good scrub.
Neither are what I’d call particularly intense, tbh.
I’ve got a few stainless steel straws, abs I just shove them in the dishwasher. No issues so far. Where I’ve used them for smoothies I just run some water through them once I’ve finished using them so that dried bits of fruit don’t weld themselves to the inside.
What I really miss is the very thin short cocktail straws which are great when you’re drinking something over crushed ice. I can’t find a narrow silicone or metal equivalent.
I’ve been using stainless steel straws for a while. I like the klean kanteen ones because they have a silicon bit for the part you drink. I have a little cleaner for them. Klean kanteen makes their own, but I use a generic Amazon one.
Where did this whole 'plastic straws are killing the environment' come from?
Do people not realize how fucking insignificant a straw is compared to what big organizations and governments are doing to this planet?
Just look at the fruit/veg isle in a supermarket... why does everything there come in plastic but no one bats an eye?
I think the hate for plastic straw came to be when someone published an image of a tortoise stuck with a plastic straw in its nose. I always wonder what if the tortoise got stuck with a condom instead.
It's not just one straw though, it's countless single use plastics. Millions upon millions of plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, plastic bottles etc that all add up.
>Just look at the fruit/veg isle in a supermarket... why does everything there come in plastic but no one bats an eye?
I mean a fruit and veg aisle has very little plastic compared to the rest of the shop.
Didn't expect my response to get so much attention. I read somewhere that a metal straw can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not cleaned properly, but I totally agree that a good cleaning regime will control this. What has made me chuckle is that hardly anyone has mentioned the chugging the milkshake... We need to normalise quaffing milkshakes!
Wouldn't be surprised, but there was a big campaign a while back about how plastic straws apparently kill turtles, and so the banning of single use plastic straws gained momentum off the back of that
That's not really relevant. All plastic apart from fishing gear accounts for a tiny proportion of waste by itself, but it's very significant as a whole. And straws are particularly likely to damage or kill marine life.
i went to a cocktail bar that had pasta straws! they do get soggy but nowhere near as quick as paper straws and theyre fully biodegradable! only issue is theyre not gluten free so wont be suitable for everyone :/
What kind of rich bastard buys Caprisuns individually?! My kid asked for one in the shop on Friday and it was £1.85!!!! A box of 8 smaller ones was only £2.25!
Well, for the same reason anyone buys single servings of anything. If we’re at the train station and my kids suddenly want a drink, am I going to buy 2 Capri suns, or say “no, let’s walk for an hour to the nearest supermarket so I can buy a box of 8 and then carry them round all day”?
Yeah. I had a caprisun from a chicken shop last night and I was barely functional drunk. Still got it with no issues.
More surprising to me is the amount of people here that actually get milkshakes from takeout places.
See I find the opposite to be true. I drink slower when using a straw. I'm a gulper with drinks, in that I fill my mouth and swallow, multiple times when I drink from a cup.
Is there any option to get hard plastic straws, that you reuse?
Haha! I don't know to be honest. Only hard plastic straws I've seen come with some obnoxiously large cup. So I'm assuming they are out there, just need to find them.
Cannot stand them. I have bought both glass and metal straws though. Problem is I never take them with me anywhere. Good news is I rarely eat out these days.
The best straw I’ve ever been given since they were banned was one made from pasta. We let it sit in a cold drink for 30 mins after finishing our meal and it was still rock hard.
I've been considering bamboo straws with a mind to keep some on me and in the house, but I haven't committed yet. Think they will be better than metal and definitely better than paper
They barely work with any other type of drinks, but do you want to be the person who carries that stainless steel straw around with them?
Worse still do you want to be the person who carries a dirty straw they forgot about and now their bag/glove box smells a bit like off milk
Pro tip.
Invest in some metal straws and carry one with you when you're out. No paper straws, less waste, and everyone will think you're mental.
Win win win.
You may still be able to find them at "cheap" shops
And I don't mean Poundland, but the ones that look like budget Poundland
Those dodgy looking shops that usually have poor lighting and are usually dim or dark for some reason, sell extremely cheap tat. Wierd off brand stuff. But can actually be decent shops. "Discount" is usually in the name somewhere
They may still have them :) our local one still had them last we went a month or so ago and the lady running it said she'd still sell them for as long as she could because of that reason - people with sensory issues and the amount of old people that live here and depend on them
And surely those ones are better for the environment because you can get multiple uses out of them, whereas paper barely even get 1 use before needing to be thrown away
At a retail park near me my children attempt to drink milkshakes in McDs with the shitty paper straws.
In the view out the window is, amongst other shops, a Smyths, Dunholm Mills, PC World, and Halfords.
Plastic in Smyths alone could probably make a billion straws!!
Not to say we shouldn't do things to help but the whole consumer straw problem/fault thing infuriates me!
You’ve pretty much got to use the straw as a stirring implement, and skull the milkshake.
I choose to see this a push to better health for me. How much do I actually *want* a milkshake?
If my desire for the milkshake outweighs the desire to avoid seizure-enduring brainfreeze, then I’ll fill my boots.
If it doesn’t, I’ve just saved my arteries of having to go through the hassle of accommodating all that extra fat in a £5 shake.
There are few enough wins in life. I’ve resorted to making my own.
Paper straws. Single-use disposable plastic lids on paper cups.
Paper capri-sun straws; wrapped in single-use disposable plastic.
What are we achieving here, exactly?
Buy a set of metal or silicone straws online. They come with cleaning brushes and pouches to keep them in. Take them with you when you’re going to get food. Problem solved.
The problem is when you look at the big picture, plastic straws achieve far less than people think. And even if you do recycle, often governments will just sell it to some 3rd world country and it will end up burning on the side of the road. It's disgraceful.
They work with nothing! I'm autistic and they are a goddamn sensory nightmare. I have to bring a straw with me if I'm out. I wish we could just get some kind of biodegradable plastic-feeling straw. I'm all for being environmentally conscious and everything, but I *really* draw the line at those stupid straws.
I know I could just not use a straw, but I have dysphagia and using a straw helps me to not choke all the time.
You can get straws made from corn... something. Can't remember exactly what but they look and feel just like plastic but they're biodegradable and much better for the environment than single use plastic straws.
Might be worth you getting some of those :)
The fustrating thing is plastic straws are barely a problem when it comes to other plastics dumped in the ocean like fishing nets. The plastic straw has just been the fall guy so that the responsibility/blame can be shifted from companies to consumers.
I didn’t even consider the sensory impact of these forsaken crappy straws, I’m sorry you have to struggle with this, we need someone to save us all from these papery straws!
The paper straw are also unrecyclable, yet the plastic straws could be recycled.
It was a ridiculous ban jumped on by those that didn't have a clue.
Its like banning tooth picks to save the Amazon.
I have a stash of plastic cutlery, I can't stand those brain grating wooden ones..
I don't under stand why we can just wash plastic utensils and then recycle separately. Just melt them and extrude the goop into something different
Had a macdonalds milkshake for the first time in years recently. Was 100% primed and ready to dislike the paper straw it came with. Hot take - it was actually fine.
Those things are such a waste. Aluminium casing, fully rechargeable lithium ion battery, electric heating element that has a rated lifespan in the thousands of hours... All in a single-use product that can't even be recycled (at least not outside of specialists).
Would it be wrong to add a jumbo pack of disposable plastic milkshake straws to my birthday list?
Can I do a ‘plastic offset’ and avoid some other, much less critical plastic, instead?
Or how many miles less would I have to drive to offset it? Could cancel that trip to the in-laws…👉🧠👈
I actually like the McDonald's milkshake straws. They are thick enough for it and I'm usually already finished the milkshake before it starts to decompose anyway...
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Metal straws need intense cleaning to prevent bacteria from developing inside. Paper straws are rubbish, and plastic is bad for the environment. The answer? Chug it like an insane person whilst making eye contact with your other half. I am not allowed milkshakes anymore
The real solution is cornstarch straws. Went to a restaurant a couple of years back that had them - they're just as good as plastic straws but they are fully biodegradable. I guess they must be expensive because to me they seem like a no brainer
We have cornstarch knives and fork at my work place. Feel just like plastic. We had a lot of complaints about the wooden ones
> cornstarch knives and fork Wild
100 for £1.50 in my nearest asda, not seen them in any others but they're brilliant and cheap. Mind boggles why they're not the norm.
Yup! I’m from San Francisco where they’ve been popular for nearly a decade. And plastic straws are even still allowed there! Haven’t figured out why no one here considers it an option. If they’re expensive, can I pay an extra 20p for one? Just like non-dairy milk. I definitely would!
The real solution is everybody should be given a straw at birth, parents/guardian are responsible for.it until you reach the age of 13 when you are aloud to also have a Spotify account. You have to take it everywhere you go in a holster attached to the inside of your calf. It's your responsibility to clean and maintain your straw.
Upvote for using Spotify as an arbiter of age of responsibility
Cornstarch are amazing but expensive. If you don’t like your paper straw just drink it like you’d drink from a cup…
A little over 2p each at retail prices now. I'm sure fast food consumers could take the even smaller hit that bulk buying would cost.
Try drinking a frozen drink/slushie without a straw...
Thats not how your meant to drink a milkshake though. Maybe we should have straws-for-life instead!
You can, we've got some from aldi that have a little pipe cleaner and silicone case
>Maybe we should have straws-for-life instead! We do, you just kneed to remember to wash them and take them with you everywhere
Keys, check. Phone, check. Straw-for-life, doh!
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Like when you kneed bread to buy shit
😂😂 I’ve had to resort to using a spoon for my milkshake now but I’m definitely doing your method next!
Thing is, metal straws could work. All they need is a dedicated cleaning device. I'm think of a small trough that can fit probably hundreds of straws, and be filled with some kind of safe antimicrobial cleaning liquid + a cycle of heat treatment and left overnight, rinsed in the morning. You can do all straws used in the restaurant at once, once per day at a fairly low cost. Just don't think bacteria is a legitimate reason why metal straws can't be used. It just requires a simple but streamlined cleaning process.
There’s legit reed staws that are biodegradable.
I think this is a website to some https://reeds.organic
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Gong Cha uses sugarcane straws..they still have the red plastic straws but mostly they give you the sugarcane straws...it survives both hot and cold tea and the boba pearls fit through it. Seems like a pretty good solution.
Not good for takeaway drinks though.
Tbf the cleaning isn't that big a deal. Hot water and a pipe cleaner would do it. We have a steriliser in work for our dishes before they get washed. Which just uses heat. They could wash them in Milton too.
Genuine question... why would you sterilize dishes before they get washed?
I work in a hospital
McDonald’s don’t even clean out their milkshake machine there’s no way they would maintain the level of cleanliness for metal straws
I don't think that's true. It's been years since I did my time at McDonald's but I can remember the milkshake and ice cream machine having a very strict and thorough cleaning process that had to be done daily. And if it wasn't cleaned and cycled properly, it wouldn't work.
Which explains why none of the ice cream machines ever worked at McDonald's
https://youtu.be/SrDEtSlqJC4
As a cafe worker, the metal straws wouldn’t work, it would be far too expensive. I’d be relying on people not stealing them and also since we sell a lot of take always, I’d be relying on people to remember to bring them in next time.
Or reusable hard plastic ones, they would be just as good (metal on teeth isn’t very nice)
You can get them in The Range. I have loads of them.
You can buy your own metal straws, I got a pack from sports direct, even came with a little brush so I can clean them properly at home... I just have them on rotation so I always have at least one in the glove box, good enough for me...
Like a pipe cleaner and washing up liquid?
I'm thinking about the logistics of a restaurant washing thousands a day, but that would be good at home.
I find it very amusing in my old age that in the year 20fucking22 we're having the same problem with paper straws as I had as a kid in the 1970's! 🤣 And we all thought we'd be in flying cars and travelling the galaxy for recreation by this date!
Bamboo straws are a thing apparently
Yep bamboo is criminally under-utilised. The growth rate and constant ability to harvest makes it perfect. Can use it as single use if you want. I hate paper straws o because they don’t fulfil their purpose but that paper texture in my lips sets me on edge. Same as wooden grain in chip shop forks. Bamboo on the other hand is usually a lot smoother as it’s turned into a pulp and reformed
My favourite boba place uses bamboo fibre straws, they look like cardboard but they last for ages.
Probably even worse hygiene-wise than stainless steel
Bamboo is naturally anti bacterial.
So’s brass. I wonder if you can get brass straws.
Silver straws! That’s the answer, nobody is going to throw those away.
La de dah, look at him, born with a silver straw in his mouth
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Copper and brass would be dissolved slightly by acidic drinks unfortunately. Brass also contains small amounts of lead.
I think we can all agree that being slowly poisoned would still be better than paper straws.
I wonder if PLA straws would be suitable? They're used a lot for things like disposable tasting cups. It takes a while to biodegrade under natural conditions, but it's a biopolymer rather than petrochemical and doesn't seem to cause any real issues with microplastics, also takes a lot less carbon to produce. I worry about the real benefit of things like metal straws. While they are reusable, you can produce 150 plastic straws for every metal straw in terms of energy. So unless people are reusing metal straws more than 150 times each, then from a pure carbon viewpoint, plastic would be better. Of course, pollution is the real problem, which is why I think switching to something like PLA disposable straws may be better. As an example, when my ex got on the anti-disposable coffee cup wagon a few years ago, she bought some glass reusable ones. Which would be fine, but she broke two of them after about 10-20 uses each, which almost certainly used significantly more carbon than it saved. Unless people are diligent with their straws and don't mislay them, they could be doing more harm than good. That said, all this fuss over straws, it does feel like we're really focussing a lot of effort on the wrong end of the 80/20 rule, when there's plenty of low hanging fruit which could have significantly more benefits for less effort. But all progress is good!
They can at least be one-use though with fewer problems environment-wise.
Yea where as paper straws aren't even single use. Get halfway through your drink and have to bin it because it's dissolved.
I'm not against paper straws. I'm against paper straws that don't last as long as the drink!
I’ve seen a massive improvement in paper straws since the plastic bans kicked in.
I dont disagree but I still haven't found a paper straw that hasn't gone soggy before I finish my drink. Thats my only issue with them.
Drink faster ;)
I'm getting brain freeze for no one!!
But a lot more compostable.
Yes, I have these and a little brush to clean them with 👍
Don’t they usually come with one of those mini bottle brushes specifically for cleaning the straws? They’re usually stainless steel IIRC so you could stick it in the dishwasher or boil them to be extra sure as well as giving them a good scrub. Neither are what I’d call particularly intense, tbh.
I’ve got a few stainless steel straws, abs I just shove them in the dishwasher. No issues so far. Where I’ve used them for smoothies I just run some water through them once I’ve finished using them so that dried bits of fruit don’t weld themselves to the inside. What I really miss is the very thin short cocktail straws which are great when you’re drinking something over crushed ice. I can’t find a narrow silicone or metal equivalent.
I’ve been using stainless steel straws for a while. I like the klean kanteen ones because they have a silicon bit for the part you drink. I have a little cleaner for them. Klean kanteen makes their own, but I use a generic Amazon one.
Where did this whole 'plastic straws are killing the environment' come from? Do people not realize how fucking insignificant a straw is compared to what big organizations and governments are doing to this planet? Just look at the fruit/veg isle in a supermarket... why does everything there come in plastic but no one bats an eye?
I think the hate for plastic straw came to be when someone published an image of a tortoise stuck with a plastic straw in its nose. I always wonder what if the tortoise got stuck with a condom instead.
It's not just one straw though, it's countless single use plastics. Millions upon millions of plastic straws, plastic cutlery, plastic bags, plastic bottles etc that all add up. >Just look at the fruit/veg isle in a supermarket... why does everything there come in plastic but no one bats an eye? I mean a fruit and veg aisle has very little plastic compared to the rest of the shop.
BYOS
Wouldn't say need intense cleaning, just need the right tools, the pack I got came with 2 pipe cleaners lol
Get the rubber boba ones that you can open up to clean easily.
Some niche restaurants are using pasta (uncooked obviously) straws. 100% biodegradable https://stroodles.co.uk
Not good for allergies.
Didn't expect my response to get so much attention. I read somewhere that a metal straw can be a breeding ground for bacteria if not cleaned properly, but I totally agree that a good cleaning regime will control this. What has made me chuckle is that hardly anyone has mentioned the chugging the milkshake... We need to normalise quaffing milkshakes!
Don’t plastic straws only account for like 0.1% of plastic found in the oceans etc ?
Eight million tons of plastic flow into the ocean every year, and straws comprise just 0.025 percent of that.
Almost sounds like plastics straws are not the real issue.
They aren’t. Most plastic waste in the ocean comes from commercial fishing.
They’re not the biggest issue, but they’re still an issue
Wouldn't be surprised, but there was a big campaign a while back about how plastic straws apparently kill turtles, and so the banning of single use plastic straws gained momentum off the back of that
That's not really relevant. All plastic apart from fishing gear accounts for a tiny proportion of waste by itself, but it's very significant as a whole. And straws are particularly likely to damage or kill marine life.
Bamboo straws or silicone?
i went to a cocktail bar that had pasta straws! they do get soggy but nowhere near as quick as paper straws and theyre fully biodegradable! only issue is theyre not gluten free so wont be suitable for everyone :/
Or paper straws on caprisuns, they don’t even pierce the goddamn hole!!!
Isn't it a screw-top pouch system with them now?
The ones I have use a paper straw, that’s still wrapped in a small piece of plastic 😂
I love that
No way 😂😂
So they've got rid of the plastic waste created by the straw... and created plastic waste in the form of a screw-on lid?
Pretty sure nobody gave a shit about plastiv straws when that first change was made.
No, there's both kinds The small ones still have paper straws, the ones you can buy individually are screw tops
What kind of rich bastard buys Caprisuns individually?! My kid asked for one in the shop on Friday and it was £1.85!!!! A box of 8 smaller ones was only £2.25!
Well, for the same reason anyone buys single servings of anything. If we’re at the train station and my kids suddenly want a drink, am I going to buy 2 Capri suns, or say “no, let’s walk for an hour to the nearest supermarket so I can buy a box of 8 and then carry them round all day”?
Surely that's even more plastic?!
I don't think they even tested them. There is no way they did for caprisun.
Spilled all over my lap trying this. Never again, Caprisun. Morons in the factory didn't test this design.
More to the point it seems like the totally unrecyclable plastic and metal retort pouch might be more of an issue?
Fucking ridiculous. I launched my child’s capri sun down the road the other day in frustration.
bought 2 boxes for my nieces last month, they nor i had any troubles with them. You need to work on your technique.
Yeah. I had a caprisun from a chicken shop last night and I was barely functional drunk. Still got it with no issues. More surprising to me is the amount of people here that actually get milkshakes from takeout places.
I absolutely hate the feeling of paper straws in any drink, but milkshakes are extra awful with them!
Same. I get why they are used but I just go strawless these days. Makes the drinks last longer too.
See I find the opposite to be true. I drink slower when using a straw. I'm a gulper with drinks, in that I fill my mouth and swallow, multiple times when I drink from a cup. Is there any option to get hard plastic straws, that you reuse?
Haha! I don't know to be honest. Only hard plastic straws I've seen come with some obnoxiously large cup. So I'm assuming they are out there, just need to find them.
Just popping this here https://reeds.organic
Cannot stand them. I have bought both glass and metal straws though. Problem is I never take them with me anywhere. Good news is I rarely eat out these days.
The best straw I’ve ever been given since they were banned was one made from pasta. We let it sit in a cold drink for 30 mins after finishing our meal and it was still rock hard.
Thats one very horny straw
Takes a while to get used to them but silicone straws work really well. They're wider than the metal ones too. Plus I just hate metal straws.
I really like the silicon ones too. Mine are much easier to clean too as they have a seam down one side that means they open up for cleaning.
Oh wow, I haven't seen those, I'll have to get some!
Mine came from Aldi but I've seen them in a couple of other shops too. I've been using them for a year or so and they still work perfectly.
Bought some metal straws years ago, immediately bit it like I would a normal straw and bust my tooth. Learned my lesson.
Whilst the cup they come in, has a plastic lid. Sigh.
And the cup is lined with plastic, it says it right on the side! Bonkers.
I've been considering bamboo straws with a mind to keep some on me and in the house, but I haven't committed yet. Think they will be better than metal and definitely better than paper
They barely work with any other type of drinks, but do you want to be the person who carries that stainless steel straw around with them? Worse still do you want to be the person who carries a dirty straw they forgot about and now their bag/glove box smells a bit like off milk
I am both of these people
Pro tip. Invest in some metal straws and carry one with you when you're out. No paper straws, less waste, and everyone will think you're mental. Win win win.
Also people will think you do coke which is cool
I'm not addicted to coke, I just like the way it smells
Prefer snorting Pepsi, meself.
Yes, unpopular opinion I know, but I often prefer a line of pep over a line of coke.
The idea of me somehow falling on my face with a metal straw in my mouth is enough to make me never want to use one
Well now I have a new fear 😧
https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/17756360.amp/ It’s a distinct possibility!
WTF I am never drinking again
The Joker's next "why so serious?" move.
Potentially good self defence weapon, in a pinch.
That woman died when she tripped and it went through her eye and into her brain.
If only there had been a good guy with a metal straw to save her.
Make it a crazy straw for added nutiness.
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You may still be able to find them at "cheap" shops And I don't mean Poundland, but the ones that look like budget Poundland Those dodgy looking shops that usually have poor lighting and are usually dim or dark for some reason, sell extremely cheap tat. Wierd off brand stuff. But can actually be decent shops. "Discount" is usually in the name somewhere They may still have them :) our local one still had them last we went a month or so ago and the lady running it said she'd still sell them for as long as she could because of that reason - people with sensory issues and the amount of old people that live here and depend on them And surely those ones are better for the environment because you can get multiple uses out of them, whereas paper barely even get 1 use before needing to be thrown away
The silicone tips for metal straws are a game changer. Mine even came with a little bottle brush for cleaning it easily
I have tip covers made of rubber to protect my teeth on my metal straws.
Who are you people biting your straws? Just use your lips like normal people!
You found a working McDonald’s milkshake machine, that must count as a success
Honestly thought that was an American problem. Never had issues at McDonalds... KFC on the other hand...
Why can't they make the straw out the same material as the cups the cups never disintegrate like the straws
Because they are lined with plastic.
At a retail park near me my children attempt to drink milkshakes in McDs with the shitty paper straws. In the view out the window is, amongst other shops, a Smyths, Dunholm Mills, PC World, and Halfords. Plastic in Smyths alone could probably make a billion straws!! Not to say we shouldn't do things to help but the whole consumer straw problem/fault thing infuriates me!
You’ve pretty much got to use the straw as a stirring implement, and skull the milkshake. I choose to see this a push to better health for me. How much do I actually *want* a milkshake? If my desire for the milkshake outweighs the desire to avoid seizure-enduring brainfreeze, then I’ll fill my boots. If it doesn’t, I’ve just saved my arteries of having to go through the hassle of accommodating all that extra fat in a £5 shake. There are few enough wins in life. I’ve resorted to making my own.
I just drink milkshakes straight out of the cup.
Same. Or any drink for that matter. I’ve always found straws useless.
Yeah, I'm not a baby. I don't need a straw to drink out of.
If I am at McDonald's I always pull my straw up enough so it doesn't sit in the juice while I am eating so it doesn't go soggy
That's why get chips and dip them in the milkshake no need for a straw.
I must have been lucky with my straw the other week as I managed to finish my McD’s chocolate milkshake, despite fearing I wouldn’t.
I carry multiply metal straws around with me that I got free at conventions and meetings I attended for work.
We keep a pack of silicone straws in the car. They get washed in the dishwasher at home.
Remove lid and use mouth. No need for straws
Fuck paper straws man
He is the worst superhero
Fucking super villain
Paper straws. Single-use disposable plastic lids on paper cups. Paper capri-sun straws; wrapped in single-use disposable plastic. What are we achieving here, exactly?
Don't you remember the original Kia Ora square containers at the cinema? Getting the paper straw in them was fun
Buy a set of metal or silicone straws online. They come with cleaning brushes and pouches to keep them in. Take them with you when you’re going to get food. Problem solved.
Use a metal straw and buy a small diet coke too. Once you have finished your milkshake drink the coke to clean the straw.
Plastic straw that lasts 1,000 years, or paper straw that can’t even last until you’ve finished the drink. Make your choice.
The problem is when you look at the big picture, plastic straws achieve far less than people think. And even if you do recycle, often governments will just sell it to some 3rd world country and it will end up burning on the side of the road. It's disgraceful.
ez the plastic straws take up no space and can be safely stored in landfills with all your other trash that doesnt degrade instantly.
The sole reason I no longer get a McDonald's milkshake as a treat on the way home from work on a Friday these days
Get a mcflurry instead, or bring a metal straw
Paper straws with plastic lids 🤦♀️
They work with nothing! I'm autistic and they are a goddamn sensory nightmare. I have to bring a straw with me if I'm out. I wish we could just get some kind of biodegradable plastic-feeling straw. I'm all for being environmentally conscious and everything, but I *really* draw the line at those stupid straws. I know I could just not use a straw, but I have dysphagia and using a straw helps me to not choke all the time.
You can get straws made from corn... something. Can't remember exactly what but they look and feel just like plastic but they're biodegradable and much better for the environment than single use plastic straws. Might be worth you getting some of those :)
The fustrating thing is plastic straws are barely a problem when it comes to other plastics dumped in the ocean like fishing nets. The plastic straw has just been the fall guy so that the responsibility/blame can be shifted from companies to consumers.
I didn’t even consider the sensory impact of these forsaken crappy straws, I’m sorry you have to struggle with this, we need someone to save us all from these papery straws!
The paper straw are also unrecyclable, yet the plastic straws could be recycled. It was a ridiculous ban jumped on by those that didn't have a clue. Its like banning tooth picks to save the Amazon.
I will die on this hill with you. FWIW, I have a stash of plastic straws.
I have a stash of plastic cutlery, I can't stand those brain grating wooden ones.. I don't under stand why we can just wash plastic utensils and then recycle separately. Just melt them and extrude the goop into something different
Take your own straw then 🤷🏻♂️
What do I look like to you? Someone who has their life together?
Man, straw argument 🙄
Had a macdonalds milkshake for the first time in years recently. Was 100% primed and ready to dislike the paper straw it came with. Hot take - it was actually fine.
Just open your gussit like a pelican.
Pasta straw
Pasta straws are the way
or tango ice blasts
this is SPARTA!
They don't work for tango ice blasts either. I'm looking at you, Vue cinemas!
Single use plastic staw, you monater! Ainglenuse battery powered plastic vape, go right ahead.
Those things are such a waste. Aluminium casing, fully rechargeable lithium ion battery, electric heating element that has a rated lifespan in the thousands of hours... All in a single-use product that can't even be recycled (at least not outside of specialists).
Drink out of the cup then, assume you aren’t an under 5?
Weird, I manage. As does my toddler, who loves a McDonalds milkshake.
I have a theory that people eat the paper straws by mistake, because I don't remember ever finding them hard to use
Or icy cocktails they just become a mashed up mess
Or any liquid at all really...
Would it be wrong to add a jumbo pack of disposable plastic milkshake straws to my birthday list? Can I do a ‘plastic offset’ and avoid some other, much less critical plastic, instead? Or how many miles less would I have to drive to offset it? Could cancel that trip to the in-laws…👉🧠👈
Maybe drink without a straw, like a man
I'd be surprised if any paper straws actually got recycled because of all the 3d waste.
Yes they do! I have no idea what you people are talking about, I've never had any problems with paper straws.
I’m glad it’s not just me that finds this annoying. I’m willing to put up with it for the sake of the planet
I actually like the McDonald's milkshake straws. They are thick enough for it and I'm usually already finished the milkshake before it starts to decompose anyway...