one place where i dissent from this ban is on plastic straws, which affords almost no tangible environmental benefit (they contribute a negligible amount of plastic waste, especially compared to other single-use packaging) relative to the cost they impose on disabled people, but otherwise this demonstrates how simple it can be to get people to make more sustainable behavioral changes.
I think I might be misunderstanding… Could you explain how the plastic straws benefit disabled people compared to the biodegradabe alternatives?
In my neck of the woods, people lost their minds at having to abandon plastic straws, so I consider it a good stepping stone away from single-use in general.
there are a number of disabilities for which alternatives to plastic straws range from simply not useful to actively dangerous–nor do any of the alternatives have all the benefits1 for disabled people as a plastic straw does–and as mentioned they contribute rather negligibly to overall plastic pollution, so the wide consensus in the disability community is that plastic straw bans should either not be implemented or have significant carve outs for disabled people:
Full bans on single-use plastic straws have faced opposition from disability rights advocates, as they feel that alternative materials are not well-suited for use by those with impaired mobility (caused by conditions such as cerebral palsy and spinal muscular atrophy). Some with neuromuscular disabilities may rely on a plastic straw for its heat resistance and due to an inability to lift a cup.[118] […] In particular, not all people with disabilities may be capable of washing reusable straws, straws made from inflexible materials are not capable of being repositioned, paper straws lose their firmness over time when soaked in a beverage, and straws made from hard materials such as metal can cause injuries. Advocates have preferred laws that still allow plastic straws to be offered upon request.[59][60][120][121]
1. taken from this blog post, which is one of many you can find on this subject: https://creakyjoints.org/advocacy/plastic-straw-bans-bad-for-people-with-disabilities/
Seems to me that making plastic straws available only to those who specifically request them on account of need is an easy fix, even if some nutters want to pretend to be disabled in order to get a plastic straw it’d be statistically negligible
I love brown paper bags and really hope for a major resurgance. Give paper for free then charge 0.25 a bag for the bioplastic.
Brown paper bags make excellent addition to a compost pile.
It’s also great for letting the kids draw on, can be scrunched up as bubblewrap alternative, and for where I live is a good fire starting material
