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.
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.
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.
Straws are necessary to some people with mobility issues. It's important to rember that not everyone can do what you can do.
Bendy straws were originally medical equipment and are still the only way for some people to be able to drink without spilling or having someone spill on them. For instance my husband's a quad. Without a bendy straw, I have to tip the cup into his mouth without being able to see clearly either the level of the liquid or the angle of the cup to his mouth, especially the far side. He can't tell me because drinking, nor move his head or hands to signal or correct me. A straight straw is almost impossible because he can't tilt his head down to drink. With the bendy straws his face is straight and as long as the straw is between his lips he can drink at his own pace. But those rubbery straws are too thick, he can't suck that hard. And we've never found a metal one that's bent at the right angle. So we're sticking to plastic, just have to make it up in other areas. Now, why they're not made with recycled plastic, I don't know.
Many disabled people are unable to drink without straws.
On social media, many people have responded to claims that people with disabilities need plastic straws by asking what people did before plastic straws were invented. "They aspirated liquid in their lungs, developed pneumonia and died," says Shaun Bickley, co-chair of the Seattle Commission for People with DisAbilities, a volunteer organization that's supposed to advise the city council or agencies on disabilities issues.
for some reason I always love those dark answers to „what did people do before X?“
Sometimes we actually help people, improve lifes
edit: typo
Chronically ill person checking in to mention people with my autoimmune disorder died a slow painful death in the past or ate pig thyroid. And people with endometriosis just spent their days in intense agony (some/many still do because current medical treatment doesn't work for them).
There's a couple of reasons straws might be convenient or even necessary:
(Edit: Add text at the beginning instead of just throwing a list out there)
Your edibles were too strong
A mistake easily avoidable. This only happens if you say "these edibles ain't shit" 45 minutes after taking them.
Australia checking in...
I remember being taught in school to always use straws when you're outside so you don't swallow a bee or spider that's fallen into your drink.
This is probably more of a baseless anxiety than an actual risk though I guess. I guess aluminium cans are problematic because you can't see what's in your drink. Bees do always stop to investigate sweet drinks so yeah I guess a sweet drink in a can might be an actual risk without a straw.
When I was a kid, a wasp went into my uncle's beer can at a backyard BBQ. My uncle didn't notice and when he took a drink he swallowed the wasp. It stung him 5 times on the inside of his throat and esophagus, and he had to be rushed to the hospital because his neck was swelling up. He wasn't allergic or anything; I guess that can just happen if you are literally stung from the inside. He survived, but it was a very close call, according to the doctor.
I know a person that have her mouth stung that way. I'm not from Australia, by the way, and it's not common to teach this around here.
Anyway, at the country areas around here it's common to teach people to use straws with cans because when cans are stored badly, touching them with your mouth can transmit diseases.
A family friend was sent to the hospital because, when at a church yard sale, he left his can of Sprite unattended and a bee got into it. When he picked it back up and drank from it he drank the bee, too, and it stung him in the throat.
So it's probably not a common issue but I can confirm it's happened at least once. I'm American, we don't really have the spider problem in the same way. Thank god, I hate spiders.
For almost everyone, yes. But they have their purpose.
The problem is not straws but the single use, non recyclable plastic ones. They're a convenience and not a necessity. Same goes for cutlery, plates, cups, bags, wrappings etc.
There are alternatives like durable plastic ones that you can reuse, metal or paper if you want single use straws.
In the rare event i drink soda, i sometimes use a straw because it feels like it doesn't affect all my teeth as much. Without a straw, it feels like the soda reaches all teeth and molars, while a straw directs it more locally. I once bought some stainless steel straws.
I cringe in horror at the idea of children using stainless steal straws. There's so much potential for horrible accidents.
Good thing you mentioned this. I agree, i wouldn't give these to children.
This is actually something my dentist recommended as it helps reduce the amount of acid and sugar from the soda from saturating your teeth.
They work well in moving vehicles but beyond that we could ditch them entirely. Edit. I should have said for most purposes. They do work well for kids or someone injured, hospitals etc.
Straws are a strawman argument to begin. That plastic drink cup has about 50 times the plastic of your typical straw.
They stop your lipstick smudging, too.
Some places have laws against drinking from a cup without a straw while driving because the cup can block the driver's view.
Technically all inventions are "unnecessary but convenient." Our ancestors got by just fine without fire or tools or clothes for much much longer than we've been inventing tools and using them.
Don't get me wrong, today's humans would almost certainly die out without our tools because we've adapted so heavily to having them (especially fire and clothing).
*For varying definitions of "just fine".
Our ancestors didn't get by without fire, if you mean ancestors as in members of our species.
We're human because fire allowed us to grow our brains larger than typically possible. Protohumans discovered how to use fire long before we existed.
In Germany plastic straws are forbidden these days. There's straws made of metal or wood still. Can't comment on the larger question tho. I've never used straws to begin with.
aside from the previously mentioned uses for people with disabilities, i'd also mention straws can be very helpful for young children first learning to become independent. boba would be pretty difficult to drink, too.
I like a lot of ice in my drinks so I definitely prefer a straw. I'd rather replace the big plastic cup the drink is in..
I heard an american the other day talking about large noodles being used as straws, I don't know if this was pasta or whatever but I thought that was insteresting
Way easier to drink a drive-thru drink from a straw while driving. And it’s a drive-thru, so kinda assumed you’ll be consuming it behind the wheel. My toddler also has a habit of not fully creating a seal between his bottom lip and the underside of the cup. So a straw in that case saves a lot of spillage.
As a facial hair have'r straws are nice to not get my beard covered in wet. That being said I rarely use straws.
There are likely some folks with disabilities that make drinking without a straw difficult but probably most of us don't really need them.
We could also think about redesigning glasses or something if that would help.
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