It’s Plastic Free July, and I'm challenging myself to find alternatives to single use plastic for an entire month - and to write a daily blog on the most interesting parts of the experience. This evening I went to a bar for a straw free gin and tonic.
This evening I went to Fremantle’s Hidden Treasures Winter Music Series with friends, and we ordered gin and tonics at the bar - which of course, came with straws. Before we returned both straws*, I took this photo to ask the question: what is the straw adding here?
Every straw ever made still exists today, and straws contribute to the deaths of thousands of birds and marine animals each year. As we’re forcing our wildlife to pay for our straw use, you would think we’ve decided they’re a necessary evil.
But I don’t think we have decided that straws are a necessary evil - they’re probably just an evil. This is why I’m glad they’re covered in Robin Chapple’s Bill to Ban Plastic.
Most of us can enjoy our gin and tonics, or whatever else we’re drinking, without a straw. And for those of us who actually need one, there are reusable options available.
* I know the bar staff probably threw these straws away after we returned them, so I didn’t quite pass my plastic free challenge. But by returning them, I hope I still started a conversation. Next time I’ll remember to ask before they’re served!
Do you have a reusable straw, or do you go straw free?