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If you buy a soft drink at a fast food restaurant, chances are you'll run across one while fumbling around in your bag reaching for a French fry. Go out to eat at a fine dining establishment, and you'll find one dangling in your glass.
Straws are everywhere.
They come in many shapes and sizes. Coffee straws, striped opaque straws (most common), and clear uncolored straws.
"Why," you ask, "would someone like William Turan launch a campagin against something like straws?" Indeed, this thin-walled cultural object seems a most unlikely target for criticism, but Turan, never less than an eccentric man, has raised awareness about straws, and inspired others to spread the word.
THE FACTS
58,000 lbs of plastic waste are produced every year through the manufacture and disposal of straws.
Roughly 5,000 lbs of paper waste are produced through the manufacture and disposal of paper straw sleeves, which commonly cover straws for sanitary protection.
Straws, having empty middles, take up a large amount of space in garbage dumps.
More than 40 infants die from straw swallowing every year. Though largely undocumented, straw-related deaths take place among adults as well.
Teeth scrape plastic during straw usage, and certain amounts of sugar and hot liquid have been shown to decay thin plastic materials (straws). It has been shown that consumption of plastic and/or plastic particles can be detrimental to one's health, even having reproductive consequences.
Straws are completely unnecessary. Most drinks in which straws are placed may be consumed just as efficiently without the impliments.
37% of all coffee-related injuries involve straws. It has been shown that consuming overheated coffee through straws bypasses the body's natural defenses against hot liquid, and shoots the coffee directly into the mouth, no matter how hot.
Studies have shown that using straws over time resurrects the infant sucking instinct, and people who use straws become less capable of drinking normally, without sucking.
THE INSPIRATION
"Straws Around The People"
Straws around the people,
straws around the world.
Straws between the ice cubes
of every boy and girl.
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