Is biodegradable straw a workable alternative?

200 years to degrade for only 20 minutes of use on average. Straw is a small object widely used in catering establishments. It is an object invented in Mesopotamia which nevertheless threatens the future today. Like cotton swabs, straws are single-use plastic products. If these objects may seem insignificant to you, they represent 70% of the waste polluting the oceans. The European Union has made a political commitment to eliminate plastic straws by 2021. However, this commitment does not fully address the issue of plastic. How can we initiate a change in our daily lives? You will find in this article the reasons why switching to biodegradable straw is a crucial issue.

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The first straw in history

The use of a straw is, after all, particularly simple. It is a cylindrical rod pierced in its center to both ends. Humanity has used it for drinking liquid since the time of the Sumerians in Mesopotamia . The earliest straws in history are first discovered in the 4th millennium BC . The oldest example of what resembles our current straws is found in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur . The straw is found in the tomb of a great figure of Sumerian society, Queen Puabi.

Why does straw have this name?

During evolution, the straw takes on a completely different form. In the 19th century , men used rye straw to suck up the liquid from their drink. Indeed, straw was at that time easy to find, was not expensive, was sufficiently resistant and waterproof to fulfill its role. The stem naturally takes the name of straw because men simply use it to drink. To get some, you just had to take the stalks of straw from their ears.

disposable biodegradable straw

Like wheat straw, other materials make a good single-use biodegradable straw. This is the case, for example, of straws made of sugar cane, straws made of pasta, paper, cardboard or edible straws. If the latter have a playful aspect, the most resistant are PLA straws.

PLA biodegradable straw

PLA biodegradable straw is also compostable. PLA is a bio-polymer made with the alloy of different plant starches , mostly corn starch . It is an easily renewable starch and a 100% biodegradable material that is therefore healthy for the environment. Everything about PLA straw is better for the environment right down to its manufacture, which emits less greenhouse gases than industrial straw production.

The type of PLA biodegradable straw that we offer, for example, is rigid and flexible. It has no odor and is resistant to low temperatures. Our PLA straws are available in different sizes, shapes and can even display logos. This makes our PLA straw model also suitable for industrial composting.


Post time: Mar-30-2022