Are straws an unnecessary (but convenient) invention? - eviltoast

People often talk about swapping out plastic straws for other materials to help the ocean/fish and the environment, but they also complain about paper straws falling apart easily. Other alternatives that are slightly more sturdy like straws made of straw don’t seem very common.

But do we even need straws? My first reaction was that any liquid can be drunk directly from the vessel it’s in, and straws just add another level of convenience. If we don’t want to use plastic straws and the alternatives mostly suck (actually all straws suck 🤓), why not just ditch straws entirely?

  • SolOrion@sh.itjust.works
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    1 year ago

    A family friend was sent to the hospital because, when at a church yard sale, he left his can of Sprite unattended and a bee got into it. When he picked it back up and drank from it he drank the bee, too, and it stung him in the throat.

    So it’s probably not a common issue but I can confirm it’s happened at least once. I’m American, we don’t really have the spider problem in the same way. Thank god, I hate spiders.