President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week to end the federal procurement of paper straws.
The order, which claims that paper straws are “nonfunctional” and says it wants to end the “forced use” of them, immediately undoes part of a Biden-era initiative to eliminate single-use plastics, including straws, in all government operations by 2035. More broadly, Trump instructed White House staff and “relevant agencies” to issue a “national strategy to end the use of paper straws” within 45 days. The strategy would aim to eliminate all executive branch policies “designed to disfavor plastic straws” and address the federal government’s contracts with states and and other entities “that ban or penalize plastic straw purchase or use.”
The attack on single use straws was entirely symbolic (end completely useless) in the first place, and harmful for disabled people.
The problem was never straws, it was, and is, capitalism.
Focus on that, don’t get drawn in to the superficial virtue signalling divisive and harmful distractions.
It’s a smaller battle, part of the larger war on plastic.
I see trash these days, and I can ignore much more of it because its biodegradable.
I’m picking up shit less. I see this as a win.
And the disabled people who have lost access don’t.
For the sake of an item that constituted 0.003% of ocean plastics, and giving you a “win” you’re further supporting the exclusion and marginalisation of disabled people.
Banning plastic straws did less than nothing to improve the environment (less than, because it made people like you think they’ve done their part, and focus less on the actual problem), and worse, it sprung up an entire multi billion dollar industry that makes and sells reusable straws that end up in landfill just as often, and will be staying there for significantly longer.
You getting a dopamine hit doesn’t make something good or right.
The thing though is they replaced polluting single use straws with less polluting single use straws.
If they actually wanted to do something useful it would have been nice to have multi-use straws ie. metal/wood/or even hardened plastic.
But I guess that wouldn’t be as suitable a source of income, and wouldn’t fit well with american consumerism and fast food culture, so here we are debating on the best type of single use straws.
As you said, the base problem comes from capitalism.
Single use straws only ever constituted 0.003% of ocean plastics, they were already less polluting than pretty much any other plastic in use today, and the alternatives are not suitable for many disabled people for many different reasons. The ban also removed accessibility, and put the burden on disabled people (and on retail staff to gatekeep us, which more often than not resulted in service being denied).
They did, they literally created an entire multi billion dollar industry to make money off of the problem they created, and the virtue signalers flocked to buy reusable straws, which again, are not suitable for many disabled people who depend on single use bendy straws for literal survival.
It is, stop getting distracted by the bullshit capitalists tell you so that they can sell you more shit.