Connecticut Green Living

Five million plastic straws are thrown away in the U.S. every day, according to GoSili, a brand promoting reusable silicone drinkware in its "Ocean Collection". Moreover, they cite that 100 bilion disposable cups go into landfills annually; the average person consumes 1,769 particles of plastic every week just from drinking water (ugh!); and by 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than there are fish. This Earth Day, April 22, let’s make a commitment to helping the planet. And the plastic in the ocean is a smashing start. I have written before about reusable straws , which I wholeheartedly endorse. Straws are helpful for many of us who have dental issues and don't want juice or soda to stain our teeth. Sometimes they help older people with more sensitive digestive systems or young children drink their milk - so I am not anti-straw. This brand is sustainable and fun - I received artsy blue and seagreen “Arctic” and “Indian” Ocean 20-oz reusable cups. One perc...

When I lived with my mother in Texas, she worried about the way I would reuse my straws. "I'm not sure it's sanitary," she said. I told her there was a big movement to curtail plastic use and reuse straws. I had been sent a metal straw a couple years earlier. Mom didn't use straws, but she immediately understood. I was happy to see that there is a nationwide university movement toward this end. Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia has announced that students there recently became "champions" in the nationwide Pledge Against Plastic Straws Campus Challenge 2019. The contest was organized by California-based Simply Straws, which sells reusable straws and encourages college campuses to shutter plastic straw use. Longwood collected 878 pledges from students, staff and the community to “Kick the Straw” habit, putting the university ahead of 71 other institutions. Indiana State came in second place. All one has to do to understand the ills of plasti...