Save the environment by keeping plastic out of landfill
Improviser’s Toolbox: drinking straws
FEATURE
with several variations in the last century, including
Joseph Friedman’s popular bendable straw in 1937.
Even though plastic straws can be washed and
reused, they are mercilessly discarded for reasons
of sanitation and ease. The use-and-throw trend
has been the norm since the 1960s, with the result
that this small seemingly insignificant piece of non-
biodegradable plastic has become one of the largest
contributors to the global plastic pollution that’s
adversely affecting our environment and is literally
choking marine wildlife.
Straws are typically made from polypropylene,
mixed with colourants and plasticisers to reduce
brittleness. Now, polypropylene is entirely recyclable,
but astonishingly a majority of the recycling
machines aren’t capable of working with something
the size of a straw, which is why it gets dumped
in landfills and oceans. Bans on plastic utensils are
in vogue all over the world, in order to curb the
growing plastic waste epidemic. Countries have
been banning various plastic products, most notably
single-use bottles and carry bags. The latest in the
line of fire is the plastic straw, and for good reason.
So, if you’ve got plastic straws in your house, don’t
get rid of them. Instead, let us show you how to be
an environmentally conscious maker, and put straws
to creative uses.rinking straws are one of the oldest
eating utensils and perhaps the
most irresponsibly used ones, as we
are slowly realising. Archaeologists
have found straws used by ancient
civilisations thousands of years ago,
all over the world. Ruins of Sumerian cities led to
straws made of gold that were used by the royalty
for sipping their indigenous brew, while ancient
Argentinians used wooden ones to savour tea.
The modern drinking straw became a fad with
Marvin Stone’s 1888 model, made with paper.
Until that time, the world was slurping liquids with
straws made out of rye grass. They were naturally
produced, but often affected the taste of the drinks
and tended to disintegrate into the beverage, leaving
sediments at the bottom of the glass. Stone, a
serial inventor who had an expertise of working with
cylindrical objects, having already patented designs
for holders for cigarettes and fountain pens, solved
the problem by wrapping a sheet of paper around
a pencil and sealing it with glue. These caught on
like wildfire but, while they didn’t interfere with the
taste of drinks, their tendency to disintegrate after
a couple of times paved the way for the much more
durable plastic. Over the years, the manufacturing
process was also refined and inventors came upD
DRINKING
STRAWS
Mayank Sharma
@geekybodhiMayank is a Padawan
maker with an
irrational fear of drills.
He likes to replicate
electronic builds,
and gets a kick out
of hacking everyday
objects creatively.