RiceStraws: Organic Straws To Replace Plastic
Seattle's Best, McDonald’s, Bon Appetit, and Alaska Airlines. What do these stores have in common?
These places are not only renowned, these are establishments that are committed to saving the planet. Early on, they started ditching plastic straws when serving their cold drinks.
But these brands only make a small part of the total number of people who said no to single-use plastics publicly. There are hundreds of thousands more eco-warriors who have committed to reducing their use of plastic in their daily life.
To coincide with this goal, we are launching #SwitchTheStraw campaign. We are encouraging small and large businesses who still rely on plastic straws to make the switch to a more natural option.
The Problem With Plastic Straws
Straws have been with us for many decades. As modern humans, we like our lives to be quick and easy. Why drink from a cup when you can slurp the drink in fashion? It sounds like a simple solution to a simple problem.
Except that the solution enables us to rely more and more on the use of single-use plastics.
In the US alone, Americans use 500 million plastic straws every single day. We're only talking about one industrialised country here.
If we account all countries in the world, we could be drowning in an ocean of plastic straws.
In 2019, scientists estimated that there are 8.3 billion plastic straws floating around the world's beaches.
With our reliance on single-use plastic, we even contribute more to an even bigger problem: climate change.
How Is Plastic Related To Climate Change?
To produce plastic, we need ethylene and propylene which are sourced from fossil fuels - of mostly oil and gas. To extract and transport these fuels, and then to actually produce plastic, created billions of tons of greenhouse gases.
Let me say that again slowly, billions of tons.
Producing plastic is one big problem. But managing it after its use is another more daunting problem to think about.
In Australia, 95% of plastic is thrown away after one single use. Only less than 12% is recycled. This leaves us with a huge amount of plastic thrown into landfills.
And guess which single-use plastic easily escapes the incinerator or the landfills?
Plastic straws.
Because of its size, it's not impossible that most of the plastic straws end up in the ocean. A viral Youtube video even showed how one plastic straw got stuck in the nostril of a sea turtle.
Plastic straws can not only contribute to more greenhouse gases, it can also kill marine life.
What Now?
So how do we reverse the narrative? Do we just stop using straws altogether?
While that's a sound solution, let's be honest that we modern humans like using straws. For one, can you imagine drinking milk tea straight from the cup?
So it's not an functional issue, it's more about the material used for the product.
The Problem With Paper Straws
The easiest eco-friendly alternative to plastic is paper, right? Well, not really.
While paper is the first thing that comes to mind, can you recall if you've ever had a good experience sipping from paper straws?
Paper straws are soggy after the first minute of soaking in your drink. They taste awful to the point that you'll only get the paper-y taste and less of your strawberry smoothie. Also, most paper straws are coated in wax to make sure that it's durable enough to last for one drink.
To finish one glass, you'd be using at least 3 paper straws. Well that defeats the purpose of less waste, am I right?
What's the best alternative then?
Introducing RiceStraws: Best Alternative To Plastic Straws
Introducing RiceStraws, the biodegradable alternative to plastic straw.
100% Natural
Harvested from farms, it boasts of 100% natural ingredients. Rice is then ground into fine powder and mixed with tapioca starch which serves as its binder.
Right now, it's the most viable solution to a simple need to sip from a drink. Be it your favorite smoothie or your brown sugar milk tea.
With its all natural ingredients, we won't have to worry about fossil fuels. A true solution to our pressing environmental issue.
Durable
Natural doesn't match well with durable, right? While there's some truth to that, but when it comes to RiceStraws, it's durable enough for you to finish your drink.
It went through lots of testing and prototyping that we can guarantee for it to last for at least 60 minutes. That's long enough for you to finish your smoothie or your soda, correct?
After soaking it for one hour, you can see something has changed in its structure. It's a natural reaction of RiceStraws when exposed to liquid. Pretty much how we need water to cook rice.
RiceStraws is durable enough for our drinks. But not as durable as plastic that can last thousands of years before it breaks down completely.
Turtle-Friendly
It's no secret that marine life can mistake floating plastic as food. More so for sea turtles who feed on jellyfish. Plastic straws that escape landfills can end up in the ocean.
The sea turtle choking on one plastic straw isn't an isolated case. There are more marine species that ingest plastic that gets stuck in their stomach.
With RiceStraws, we don't have to worry about it being stuck in a sea turtle's nostril. It dissolves before it even reaches the ocean. But if it does escape landfills and find its way to the ocean, it breaks down into small pieces. Marine animals can even feed on it.
Because of its all-natural ingredients, it takes less than 90 days to biodegrade. No harm done to our planet.
So there you have it, a product that is all-natural, durable and turtle-friendly.
Too good to be true? There’s only one way to know.
Order RiceStraws now, packed in eco-friendly packaging. Saving the environment one RiceStraw at a time.
