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?

  • GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network
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    1 year ago

    It will in the USA once insurance companies classify it as a medical device and doctors offices start billing them $500 for a straw they’ll negotiate down to $200 and now we’re paying $40 per straw after insurance

    • Spiracle@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      That is unrelated to normal straw usage, though. They can at any time declare that they need “medical straws”, define that only certified companies can provide them, and then demand hundreds of Dollars for them. I would not be surprised if this was already happening somewhere.