At first glance, bans on plastic straws might seem like a simple – and harmless – next step for the environmentally conscious.
Love sea turtles? No more straws. Want to save the planet? “Stop sucking.”
But as cities and corporations jump on the anti-straw movement that is gaining worldwide support and celebrity backing, few have stopped to consider the unintended consequences of these well-intentioned bans.
Plastic straw ban: testing the eco-friendly alternatives
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Boba tea shops that rely on plastic straws are left scrambling to find pricier alternatives. Manufacturers of compostable straws can’t keep up production to meet the demand. And people with disabilities who cannot drink a beverage without the assistance of a straw now have to navigate yet another obstacle to dining in public.
“What has happened here is a situation that happens time and time again when it comes the disability community, and that is ‘out of sight, out of mind’,” said Lawrence Carter-Long, the director of communications at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund. “If people don’t personally need straws, they fail or neglect to realize that there are people that do.”
But even as voices of opposition begin to rise up in the [...]