Straws are likely the same deal, plastic straws are probably more environmentally friendly than their metal straws.
No, they're not. Full stop. It's not just the production of the straws that matters, it's their post-use effects. They can choke birds and fish, pierce stomachs or guts, and eventually become microplastics that get eaten by plankton and fish since the plastic doesn't degrade on a timeframe relevant to human or even generational lifespans.
Tons of plastic waste ends up in the ocean, with the bulk coming from China and Southeast Asia. However, the concern with straws is the harm they cause to local wildlife at their macroscopic sizes.
Throwing it in a bin reduces the amount of trash that ends up in the ocean, but wind, homeless, gravity, can all result in trash ending up outside of the bin and on a path into the water.
> but wind, homeless, gravity, can all result in trash ending up outside of the bin
Tossing out "homeless" for a reason trash ends up in the ocean really undermines your point and makes you seem like an asshole. Maybe I'm naive, but I've never seen _anyone_ intentionally take things out of the trash and toss them somewhere else. I can't imagine this happening (caused by any human) on a scale where it is worth mentioning before mentioning negligent littering.
I see it happen at least once a week in Santa Monica. When a homeless person digs through a trash bin and leaves all the waste on the sidewalk, it's the equivalent of hundreds of people littering.
Are you aware that metal straws share all of those issues, notably that they do not degrade on human-relevant timeframes either? The difference is recycling them is a lot more costly than recycling plastics in terms of energy/heat needed.
I was not aware that metal straws turned into microplastics. This is new to me. I suppose the scientists behind these amazing devices will win Nobel prizes for this accomplishment.
Sarcasm aside, metal straws don't float, and fish and birds don't try to eat them. And unless you have some fancy expensive metal straws, in a corrosive sea salt environment the ones generally available rust in a matter of years.
the purpose of a metal straw is not to be used once then thrown away. sure, if people began throwing away their metal straws after a single use it would be as bad as plastic straws, but that's not why people use metal straws.
No, they're not. Bioplastic straws are not any more biodegradable than regular straws. The "bio" part of bioplastic identifies the inputs for the plastic.
Compostable straws can be made of bioplastics, but require high temperatures to biodegrade, meaning generally temperatures not found in nature (outside of volcanic areas).
No, they're not. Full stop. It's not just the production of the straws that matters, it's their post-use effects. They can choke birds and fish, pierce stomachs or guts, and eventually become microplastics that get eaten by plankton and fish since the plastic doesn't degrade on a timeframe relevant to human or even generational lifespans.