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Are straws an unnecessary (but convenient) invention?
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this post was submitted on 04 Sep 2023
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There are people who have disabilities that prevent or make it hard to drink without a straw, for example, they have shaky hands and would spill their drink otherwise.
This is how we end up paying for straws as medical devices. As soon as you make it a niche item the people who really need it are screwed
It's a simple metal tube (reusable). Just because it's niche doesn't mean it'll cost a bomb.
A lot of disabled people who need straws have difficulties controlling their muscles, so a metal straw is a good way to break their teeth, the same goes for wood and other hard straws. Paper straws are also unusable for them, as they break too quickly, and silicone straws are too floppy. Plastic straws really are the only suitable option for them.
Agave straws might be a sweet spot - they behave like plastic straws but are biodegradable.
That's awesome!
BTW, just to make it clear; I'm not saying "Yay plastic, plastic is the only way!". I am saying that the current alternatives aren't suitable for all cases.
Personally, as a (mostly) able-bodied person, I carry reusable silicone straws with me.
It will in the USA once insurance companies classify it as a medical device and doctors offices start billing them $500 for a straw they'll negotiate down to $200 and now we're paying $40 per straw after insurance
That is unrelated to normal straw usage, though. They can at any time declare that they need "medical straws", define that only certified companies can provide them, and then demand hundreds of Dollars for them. I would not be surprised if this was already happening somewhere.
Now I hope the people affected by this hoard straws. We live in a weird world.
Straws would still be cheap, but also medical devices should be free anyways
I want to add that the convenience factor they give to non-disabled people really helps the life-necessity factor for disabled people. Economy of scale helps a lot. Someone who needs straws to live can go to any grocery or convenience store and buy dozens or hundreds of the things for dirt cheap because the disabled people aren’t the only ones buying them, and that’s a good thing.
Or, they could buy one reusable metal one to last a lifetime.
That metal straw could end up impaling their brain though.
Yeah, somebody else explained to me that they can only use plastic straws for disabled folk
Aren't reusable straws difficult to sanitize? I've always wondered
No, why would they be? Hot water, same as any other dish
Most come with a little brush to help clean them as well
Or after you go to the dentist yourself! Granted you can likely survive without drinking room temperature anything because your gums/terth are sore for a bit, but disabled people cannot.