Cheap, sustainable alternative to plastic straws

For years, plastic bags have been the focus of the environmentalists, but plastic straws came into the spotlight thanks partly to viral images highlighting the danger posed by seemingly innocuous straws to marine animals.

Plastic straws are globally the sixth most common type of litter and among the top 10 marine debris items, according to Litterati, an app that identifies and maps trash, and environmental advocacy group Ocean Conservancy.

But what’s so unique about straws? And why are we still using them when ditching them won’t require us to make significant behavioural changes? 

That’s partly because of how cheap and ubiquitous they are.

It is believed that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics have been produced since the early 1950s. An estimated eight million tonnes of plastics are dumped into the oceans and seas each year — that’s 250kg every second. Scientists say that plastic straws, made from fossil fuels and seldom recycled, make up about 4 per cent of the plastic trash by piece, not by weight.

In Bangladesh, 3,744 tonnes of single-use plastics are produced annually, and in Old Dhaka, around 250 tonnes of non-recyclable products such as straws are sold every month, according to the Environment and Social Development Organization. About 80-85 per cent of the plastic items are discarded after single-use. 

Scientists say that plastic straws are generally unnecessary unless you are disabled or a small child. And then there have been some promising alternatives – from biodegradable straws to raw pasta, grass and bamboo straws.

We have another suitable and sustainable substitute in Bangladesh – enter the humble jute straw.

Jute straws: Organic, durable

Bangladesh sees an average annual production of around three million tonnes of jute sticks. Nearly half of them are used and the rest usually goes to waste.

In rural areas, improvised jute straws had been used for years, and now, non-profit Go Green Bangladesh is tapping the idea of reusable straws from jute stalks that are readily available and inexpensive.

After collection, the hollow stems are washed and cut into perfect shape and size before being put through a hygienic process. The jute straws are then packed and sent to the market. The organisation said that these straws do not contain any chemical or preservative and can be reused many times.

“It’s a very promising product. If we can popularise jute straw, it’ll help protect the environment, boost jute production and allow farmers to earn some extra cash,” its co-founder Fazlur Rahman Razu said.

Several restaurants in Dhaka that introduced jute straws said the customers’ response had been positive. B.B.Q Express has recently partnered with Go Green Bangladesh to provide jute straws with their drinks.

“Jute straws are durable, user-friendly, 100 per cent plant-based material, biodegradable and they decompose naturally. We need to limit single-use plastics at the individual level and ditch plastic straws as part of our effort to keep the environment clean,” a spokesperson for Go Green said.

“Little steps like this can make a lot of difference.”