Between him merchandising Maga with whom he dressed his bankrupt 2020 attempt For returning to the White House, Donald Trump included a much less resulting piece than his famous red caps, but endowed with the same political burden: plastic straws. The cannulas carried their last name in capital letters, were sold in packages of $ 15 and were, in the words of the Republican leader, the alternative to the “Liberal straws” of paper. They did not serve to win those elections, but to raise thousands of dollars.
Now, back at the White House, He has decided that the whole government also begins to use plastic cannulas instead of biodegradables. And as happened in 2020, with it he launches a message that goes beyond the straws.
What happened? Donald Trump doesn’t want more straws. Rather, he doesn’t want more paper straws. That’s why He has just signed An executive order with which he reverses the efforts of the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, who advanced right in the opposite direction. The Democrat aspired that federal institutions be disregarding plastic cannulas throughout The next few yearsfirst taking them out of their activities in 2027 and then suppressing them until they reduce them to zero in 2035.
Why’s that? Simple. Because Trump doesn’t like them. He made it clear already during his failed electoral campaign of 2020 and has stressed again these days, in a resounding way and without half inks, faithful to his style. “These things do not work, I have had them many times, and sometimes they break, they explode. If something is hot, they do not last long, a matter of minutes, sometimes second. It is something ridiculous,” He settled.
The republican argument does not end there. Trump has insisted that the attached straws that have been promoting as the ecological alternative to the traditional plastic are dissolved for years “disgustingly” in the mouth and even questions that its use is positive. For both consumers and the environment.
Its decree in fact that they incorporate chemicals that “can entail risks to human health”, their production is more expensive than the conventional alternative and also generate waste. “Paper strases are sometimes involved individually in plastic, which undermines the environmental argument in favor of its use,” emphasize.
Goodbye to biodegradable straws? Not quite. Trump’s decision is relevant and there are those who have seen in it A declaration of intentionssomething that goes far beyond the simple cannulas. The Executive Order declares that “US’s policy is to put an end to the use of paper straws”, but at the moment its scope is limited: it focuses on the federal administration, putting an end to The Biden era policy that sought that the federal government gradually eliminate the purchase of plastics from a single use.
The regulatory framework around the straws is really something more complex. There are cities and states, including California, Oregon, New Jersey or Seattle, in Washington’s own territory, endowed with regulations that limit the use of plastic cannulas or prioritize biodegradable options. Trump’s goal is clear, in any case. Before journalists, he shared transparently what his bet is: “We will return to plastic straws.”
Do paper straws work? Trump ensures that its use leads to “ridiculous” situations and even that they are “disgusting” in certain cases. Those are personal, subjective appreciations. What can be affirmed objectively is that science has demonstrated that biodegradable cannulas are far from being perfect and – beyond that they may or may not be softened while using some problems related to their materials.
In 2023 a group of researchers published A study in which they exposed their conclusions after analyzing 39 brands of straws of different materials, from plastic or paper to glass, steel and bamboo. And his conclusion was that the biodegradable cardboard were the ones that contained the highest volume of PFAS. That is a problem because these synthetic substances are harmful to humans and the environment. Of a total of 20 paper cannulas brands, 18 showed PFAS.
Why is it a problem? It He expressed clearly Two years ago at SMC Marieta Fernández, a professor at the University of Granada, precisely following that study. “The majority of paper analyzed (90%) contained pfas. They were also detected in 80% of bamboo, 75% of plastic and 40% of glass. The steel analyzed, “summarized the academic.
Fernández recalls that PFAS are commonly used for non -stick purposes and to improve the resistance of water, heat or spots, so “it is not surprising” to find them in the cannulas. The problem, abundantis that their presence in paper and bamboo straws would question that they are really “biodegradable.” And what is so or even more serious: it question that they are really “suitable for human consumption” products.
Better plastic? Paper strases may not be perfect, but those of plastic are also very far from being, no matter how much Trump likes them, confessed lover of sugary and gas sodas. As Remember Fernándezthe study of 2023 also detected PFAS in the plastic units. And while its percentage was lower than in cardboard versions, the result remained elevated: chemicals were detected in 75% of the samples.
His big problem is nevertheless another: the impact they have on the environment. The data does not always coincide, but they usually show a worrying scenario. There are estimates that speak that in the US they are used a day 175 million of disposable straws, Straws Turtle Island Restoraction Newtory raises the data to More than 390 million And another calculation –so cited as disputed– points out that in the country each day more than 500 million of cannulas.
And what does that mean? Let any of those figures or Another estimatethe truth is that we talk about a quantity of huge straws: hundreds of thousands daily, in the best case, which take only a few minutes to become garbage. The big question is … What to do with them when they are discarded? Do they all end up in the recycling circuit? Do they aggravate the problem of plastic containers of a single use of those who wanted to get rid of Joe Biden?
Greenpeace warns That disposable straws are used only for a few minutes, sometimes not even that, but it takes “up to 500 years to decompose”, “causing damage to marine ecosystems” and harming fauna and flora. According to their calculations, between 40 and 60% of the turtles end up ingesting plastics, a percentage that is even higher in certain birds. Only in Spain estimates that 13 million are used daily.
Images | Gage Skidmore (Flickr), Qui Nguyen (UNSPLASH) and Brian Yurasits (UNSPLASH)
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