News Disney removing plastic straws and more by mid-2019

[larryz]

 

[GlassHalfFull]

You mean you don't want to put your lips on the cup that is holding the liquid that is going to go in your body? I do not understand.

I mean.. most people only touch the OUTSIDE of the glass at any point during use, unless they do the little kid tongue splash thing inside the cup..

But unless there is lipstick or obviously lip marks on a glass, I always assume I am only 1 water rinse away from sharing a drink with a stranger..

 

[Nubs70]

Again with the 'show me your research!' argument. Every straw in the US isn't handed over to a straw care technician, who carefully escorts the retired straws to a special center, where the straws are read stories to and tucked into bed at night. They aren't recyclable. They do not biodegrade. Adding to landfills, which, I shouldn't have to explain to an adult, isn't really the best idea long term. They don't degrade, which means they will be around long after you and I are gone. Prying straws from your cold, dead fingers isn't going to save the earth, but it will at least slow contributing to a long term problem. And plenty on here have provided research. But you don't really care about that do you? You just want make sippy on your drink drink!

And again, you attack the kid's number, which is admittedly an estimate... OK so what are we arguing here? That a kid's estimate might not be precisely accurate? Ok. Point conceded! Congrats on pointing out that an estimate rounded to the nearest hundred million may not be dead on.

Also- if you are such a germaphobe, what on earth are you doing going to amusement parks?

Putting plastic in landfills is the ultimate in carbon sequestration. It converts raw petroleum into plastic that is entombed in a landfill. Thus denying future generations the use of that petroleum.

 

[imperius]

Why not bring one of those hard plastics cups with built in straws and pour it into that if you’re that heartbroken of not having a straw?

 

[Lensman]

You can drink your drink without any straw at all... just like for almost every alcoholic or hot beverage...

I've often wondered about this. Especially now that WDW serves beer in many of the parks, no one seems to complain about not getting a straw or a lid with one's beer. That said, I'm a bit of a germaphobe and have always used the excuse that the alcohol kills the germs. LOL

Technically don't all straws suck? That is their function after all.

I think the sucking part is our job, not the straw's.

Obviously from the invective in this thread, we all pretty much suck.

First, that 500 million straws a day number was essentially made up by a nine year old. This was the subject of a USA Today article not long ago (USA Today is far from Breitbart).

I agree that the 500 million figure gets too much airtime. That said, I don't think he made it up, My own back-of-envelop estimate follows:
McDonald's: 20 million straws per day - I've estimated this from reports of their U.K. stores and number of stores in the U.S. vs the U.K. McDonald's refuses to release any information about the numbers of straws they use per day.
Rest of the fast food industry: 40 million straws per day
There are 600,000 restaurants in the U.S. 190,000 of these are quick service. 60,000 of these are fast food.
Other: I'm tired of doing these estimates, but you get the idea.
There are 75 million kids in the U.S. How many straws do they use per day outside of the fast-food industry?

11 pages, and nobody's used the term "straw man argument" yet?

What, is it too early in the morning for most of you???

LOL I think there's more reductio ad absurdum going on.

You can trust the 9 year old all you want but it is a fact that he made up the number that he used. Weather the actual number is more or less, I have no idea but the point is that an environmental movement started based on the made up number of a 4th grader.

Ah! As it turns out, he didn't make up the number, but rather did an informal survey of manufacturers to find out from them what they thought the straw market was in the U.S. He said the average of those was 500 million.

The food service research firm Technomic estimates are that the food service industry uses 170 million straws per day.

The market research firm Freedonia Group estimates that the U.S. uses 390 million straws per day.

The Foodservice Packaging Institute estimates usage at 250 million straws per day.

I feel it is my obligation to the community to provide data instead of just rhetoric.

I don't know how impactful Disney's new policy will be to the environment, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I don't blame anyone but myself for my germaphobia.

 

[Kenny Hensley]

Meanwhile, entirely unnecessary plastic bags will be handed out to all Splash Mountain riders and Kidcot crafters.

Came here for this...not disappointed. Thank you!

 

[UKDisney Dave]

The trouble with everyone’s argument that straws are only a tiny percentage of plastic waste that goes to landfill and therefor we shouldn’t focus on them, but on bigger plastic items is flawed.

The big trouble with plastic straws is that millions either never make it to landfill, or when they get there they don’t stay there. Straws chucked out of cars by careless people, straws blown away in the wind at a theme park, straws dropped by a child on a path to later be washed away by heavy rain, straws that roll of the table in the cafe, or fall out of the trash as the bins being emptied. Straws are small, lightweight and get everywhere. They get blown out of landfill, washed away by rains and end up in streams and rivers and the ocean.

Next time your on a beach have a look. Next time your at an intersection check out the grass verges. Next time your in a theme park have a look on the ground. Straws get everywhere.

We share this plannet, not just with each other, but with countless other species. The argument over plastics shouldn’t be about preserving the plannet for our kids, but about sharing the plannet right now in the best way we can with every other living animal. Go google some images of straws and wildlife, and then come back and justify why you should have a plastic straw to sip your cola.

Yea I get that some children and adults with a limited range of motion may find plastic straws useful. Nothing wrong with that. I’m not suggesting they be outlawed. But they are a tiny, tiny, tiny number of the millions upon millions of plastic straws used each day. We can figure it out.

Yea Disney may be jumping on the bandwagon. Yes refillable toiletries in hotels may save them thousands of dollars each year, but let’s get on board here. We’re not the only ones on the plannet.

Do I advocate we all go and live in a mud hut, live off the land and forgo our modern day life style. No. I’m no hippie. I get that my flight from the UK to Florida damages the plannet. I get that my car guzzles gas. I get that my life has an impact on others. But we can all, and should all, do what we can.

 

[Kenny Hensley]

Good move...anything to inconvenience those that whine/can’t get over their first world problems

But seriously...they handle the no straw problem around DAK just fine.

Beer doesn't come with a straw.

Problem solved

 

[Kenny Hensley]

As a person who bites my straw...paper straws just don't work for me because they get all soggy. Maybe they should focus on bigger items and not the smallest item of plastic. This also makes me feel like one day we are going to all be stuck using "reusable toilet paper" lol

It could be worse

 

[Kenny Hensley]

Current Disney "wax paper" products are petroleum based plastic and all go right into the landfill the area behind Club Cool at EPCOT.

Whew...fixed that for you!

 

[Bacon]

https://people.com/food/santa-barbara-plastic-straw-ban-bill-jail-time/ why?

 

[Kenny Hensley]

If they get a sponsor, it will get an update. Why not Ziploc?

Why does everyone keep bagging on that idea?

 

[Nubs70]

I've often wondered about this. Especially now that WDW serves beer in many of the parks, no one seems to complain about not getting a straw or a lid with one's beer.

My 12 year old doesn't need a straw. He can down a beer without spilling a drop.

 

[Gitson Shiggles]

Why does everyone keep bagging on that idea?

Some people are naturally more plastic in their thinking.

 

[Kenny Hensley]

Is it permissible to take a...dare I say it...Straw Poll...on paper vs. plastic?

 

[Kenny Hensley]

I absolutely applaud this move. I won't share it as it might be a bit too unsettling for people here, but there is a youtube video that shows a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose, and people removing it. Its things like that that make removing the straws a good move.

Seems to me it's only a problem if the straw is sideways.

 

[Tom P.]

Putting plastic in landfills is the ultimate in carbon sequestration. It converts raw petroleum into plastic that is entombed in a landfill. Thus denying future generations the use of that petroleum.

Wait... I thought petroleum was bad and we didn't want future generations to use it.

 

[michmousefan]

Seems like more attention should be focused on the decision to eliminate all individual bottles of toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, etc and replace them with the dispensers that are currently in the value (and maybe others) resorts. That's a much more efficient delivery system; it's important to keep in mind that most of the time those little bottles aren't empty and whatever is still in them is thrown away and joins the waste stream. That's a sizable waste there as well.

 

[21stamps]

Seems like more attention should be focused on the decision to eliminate all individual bottles of toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, etc and replace them with the dispensers that are currently in the value (and maybe others) resorts. That's a much more efficient delivery system; it's important to keep in mind that most of the time those little bottles aren't empty and whatever is still in them is thrown away and joins the waste stream. That's a sizable waste there as well.

I agree.. but..

Have you missed the threads where people are flipping out because they don’t have a bunch of extra bottles to bring home with them?

 

[JohnnyAmerican]

so, we're going to cut down more trees instead of recycle the plastic? the trash in the ocean isn't from America