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4. Do You Know the History of the Straw?
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HOW A SUCKY INVENTION CHANGED THE WORLD The History of the Drinking Straw
previous prototypes.Their popularity grew, especially among children and hospital patients who found it challenging to drink directly from a glass. Straws became even more accessible in the 1930s when they were
People don’t often wonder about everyday objects, like the seemingly inconsequential drinking straw, but National Drinking Straw Day falls on Jan. 3 and gives people a chance to scrutinize the growing concern over straws’ contributions to global pollution.
manufactured with the ability to bend. THE STRAW’S CONSEQUENCE
It wasn’t long until the rapidly growing plastic industry saw an opportunity. Not only were plastic straws more durable than their paper counterparts, but they were cheaper to make. Unsurprisingly, the mass production of plastic straws starting in the 1960s contributed to worsening pollution. Today, the National Park Service estimates that Americans use nearly 500 million straws every day. Most of these straws are then discarded, joining millions of tons of plastic materials that wash up across the world’s beaches. To help reduce the amount of plastic in use, people are taking action. Several cities across the U.S., including Seattle, have banned plastic straws in bars and restaurants. Many alternatives have also taken to the market, such as metal or silicone straws that can be used more than once. If you want to help contribute to alternative solutions, most local grocery stores, as well as big manufacturers like Amazon, sell metal or biodegradable straws for less than $10.
THE STRAW’S ORIGIN While the drinking straw has been around for centuries — dating back nearly 5,000 years to ancient Sumerian times — it wasn’t until 1888 that the first drinking straw was patented. Marvin C. Stone, a manufacturer of paper cigarette holders, created a prototype straw by wrapping strips of paper around a pencil, gluing them together, and removing the pencil to create a hollow cylinder from which people could drink. THE STRAW’S INDUSTRIAL BOOM By 1890, Stone Industrial was producing Stone’s paper straw in massive quantities, surpassing the production of cigarette holders. Stone’s straws were effective for glasses or containers that were difficult to drink from, and as a bonus, they didn’t leave any gritty residue like
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