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Coffee Cups Are Next

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11–20 of 447 posts

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#11

First they came for plastic bags. Then they came for straws. Coffee cups are next. Straws are a hot button topic in disabled circles.

What’s wrong with paper (or biodegradable plastic) straws, besides costing an extra penny or whatever?

Some disabled people are allergic to paper.

There are probably other issues. I'm not personally up in arms about it, but then I have yet to be directly impacted.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s wrong with paper (or biodegradable plastic) straws, besides costing an extra penny or whatever?

Some disabled people are allergic to paper. There are probably other issues. I'm not personally up in arms about it, but then I have yet to be directly impacted.

If someone has a serious medical reason to need a particular kind of straw, it seems like restaurants could carry a few to provide on request (any legal ban could figure out some exception for this case), or the person could carry their own straw around.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#13

First they came for plastic bags. Then they came for straws. Coffee cups are next. Straws are a hot button topic in disabled circles.

What’s wrong with paper (or biodegradable plastic) straws, besides costing an extra penny or whatever?

In order to remain impermeable during exposure to liquid, wouldn’t a paper straw have to have some kind of coating? If that coating is plastic, then it would be no solution to the problem for which plastic straws have been criticized: microplastic pollution in the environment. If the coating is wax, the Wikipedia article for wax paper[0] suggests that there are often environmental issues.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wax_paper

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#14

First they came for plastic bags. Then they came for straws. Coffee cups are next. Straws are a hot button topic in disabled circles.

What’s wrong with paper (or biodegradable plastic) straws, besides costing an extra penny or whatever?

"McDonald's is being called on to stop its roll out of paper straws in the UK and Ireland, amid claims that they "dissolve" in drinks."

"Petition creator Martin Reed started it a week ago, complaining the new paper straws dissolve as you drink them.

"Many social media users agree, with some claiming paper straws are "horrible" while one says it is like "drinking a milkshake through an empty toilet roll tube"."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-48038130

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#15

I have to admit that while our family is as conscientious as we can be with plastic use and recycling, I have a weak spot for coffee cups/lids. When visiting the US recently I found the recycled paper lids quite distasteful, in the literal sense. For me, kicking the coffee cup/lid will be a bit harder than other forms of sustainability.

If only there were some kind of reusable coffee cup that did not suffer from such issues.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s wrong with paper (or biodegradable plastic) straws, besides costing an extra penny or whatever?

In order to remain impermeable during exposure to liquid, wouldn’t a paper straw have to have some kind of coating? If that coating is plastic, then it would be no solution to the problem for which plastic straws have been criticized: microplastic pollution in the environment. If the coating is wax, the Wikipedia article for wax paper[0] suggests that there are often environmental issues. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org…

There were a few decades where paper straws were the standard.

When plastic straws were first introduced, people complained that they were too light and wouldn’t stay down in carbonated drinks.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#17
Surely plastic waste is a local problem for only some places? America has no shortage of empty land for landfills, but perhaps India or Singapore has more of a struggle to put it all somewhere. I live in a country with plenty of wasteland close to my city, and the landfills are well managed to prevent leaching, but people are still really passionate about not using them for plastic. Nobody seems to be able to explain why except to refer to the Pacific garbage patch, which isn't caused by us because our landfills are on land and not spilling into the sea (except that one time when a flooded river broke one open).

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some disabled people are allergic to paper. There are probably other issues. I'm not personally up in arms about it, but then I have yet to be directly impacted.

If someone has a serious medical reason to need a particular kind of straw, it seems like restaurants could carry a few to provide on request (any legal ban could figure out some exception for this case), or the person could carry their own straw around.

Maybe you are familiar with Spoon Theory? Disabled people who are up in arms about straws typically argue that it's yet one more burden on them when they have too many as is.

I'm not well versed on the straws issues. But let's talk about the California bag ban for a minute.

I've lived without a car for over a decade. I also have a compromised immune system. Disposable plastic bags are cleaner than reusable shopping bags.

I almost never buy trash bags. I use my shopping bags as trash bags.

I don't feel guilty about needing and wanting plastic shopping bags for convenience and germ control.

The bag ban presumes you can just stick your stuff in your shopping cart, take it out to the trunk of your car and drive it home. It is a burden for poor people, pedestrians and folks using public transit. There is no limit on rich people paying the extra 10 cents per bag to have all the bags they want.

It's based on an assumption that you have a car and money and will not give up your car. It actively punishes serious environmental activists actually willing to live without a car.

Getting more people to walk would do more good, imo.

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In order to remain impermeable during exposure to liquid, wouldn’t a paper straw have to have some kind of coating? If that coating is plastic, then it would be no solution to the problem for which plastic straws have been criticized: microplastic pollution in the environment. If the coating is wax, the Wikipedia article for wax paper[0] suggests that there are often environmental issues. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org…

There were a few decades where paper straws were the standard. When plastic straws were first introduced, people complained that they were too light and wouldn’t stay down in carbonated drinks.

> There were a few decades where paper straws were the standard.

That still doesn’t answer the question I raised in my post though. Where the standard paper straws wax paper?

Re: Coffee Cups Are Next

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There were a few decades where paper straws were the standard. When plastic straws were first introduced, people complained that they were too light and wouldn’t stay down in carbonated drinks.

> There were a few decades where paper straws were the standard. That still doesn’t answer the question I raised in my post though. Where the standard paper straws wax paper?

The modern ones seem to be very lightly coated if at all. I do think that the reaction that they are impossible to drink from is more than a little silly, though. Maybe if you leave the straw in the drink for many hours it will collapse on you? I haven’t tried that.
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