There’s no doubt about it – we’re creating massive amounts of plastic waste just to sip on drinks. The good news? You can easily avoid plastic by opting for reusable straws. In particular, glass straws offer the same great experience as plastic straws – minus all the environmental effects. Even better, there is a multitude of glass straw benefits to make the change even easier.

Why Switch to Glass Straws?

You might be thinking, “It’s just a little plastic straw – how bad can it be?” The reality is that we have a full-blown plastic pollution crisis on our hands. Plastic has replaced more sustainable materials, like glass, metal, and wood, as the primary material for many products. It’s cheap and easy to make, and we can throw it away after a single-use.

In fact, single-use plastic accounts for a whopping 40% of all plastic produced each year. That means close to half of all plastic is made specifically to be thrown away after minutes of use, from food wrappers to plastic straws.

Plastic production is also increasing at a rapid rate. Half of all the plastic ever made has been manufactured in the last 15 years. It’s expected to double between 2015 and 2050.

So – what’s so bad about plastic? Can’t we just recycle it? Plastic is made from fossil fuels, which in itself is an environmentally damaging industry. Beyond that, we aren’t recycling plastic as we should. Only about 8.7% of plastic is recycled in the US. Only 9% of global plastic that’s no longer in use has been recycled since 1950.

Instead, plastic ends up in landfills where it will take hundreds of years to break down into microplastics. It may also be burned, increasing its carbon footprint, or littered into oceans and other natural environments. In fact, 8 million tons of plastic waste finds its way into the oceans each year, where many animals mistake it for food, causing life-threatening health issues.

There’s good news: you can say no to single-use plastic and bring…