Week 2: Estimating Impact

     In my second week of this project, I finally got the opportunity to use my straw! Steeling myself for the inevitable ridicule from my boyfriend, I whipped that baby out in McDonald's and sucked down a Sprite (Figure 1). Once I got over my initial fear of judgment, it was an overall pleasant experience. The largest obstacle I faced was how to put the straw away without making a mess, but, after a quick rinse in the bathroom sink, it was as good as new. An unexpected twist in this adventure, the Sprite was delivered to our table with a straw. At first, perplexed and concerned, I was unsure what to do about this. However, once I realized that I could just save the straw and take it home to use when I was truly desperate, I relaxed a little.

Figure 1
the inaugural journey

     While I am ecstatic over the first use of my straw, I'm a little disappointed that I've only gotten the chance to use it once. However, I have not lost hope. With the holiday break coming up, I anticipate many trips to Starbucks, the movie theater, and (more) McDonald's where I will once again get to enjoy the satisfaction of saving the planet while staying refreshed.

     Ok, so, thus far I have only managed to save one straw from joining its brothers and sisters in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. (1) This does not seem like much. However, since the beginning of this project, I haven't used any straws at all. Keeping in mind that the average American uses 1.6 straws a day (2) and knowing that this project started on December 1st, I've actually saved 28.8 straws in total. If I continue this behavior consistently to the end of the project, I'll have saved 78.4 plastic straws by January 18th. If I practiced this behavior for a year, I would save 584 straws. A small dent in the 500 million straws used by Americans every day, (3) but still a personal accomplishment. 
     While I was unable to find information about the manufacturing of an individual straw, I do know that drinking straws are made from polypropylene, a resin made by stringing together propylene gas molecules. First developed in the 1950s, this material is light-weight, durable, and does not contain BPA, which makes it safe for contact with food and drink. (4) Polypropylene presents multiple issues when it comes to environmental sustainability. Not widely recyclable, many products made with polypropylene end up in landfills or, as in the case of drinking straws, in the ocean. This is one of many reasons that plastic straws are the 11th most common piece of ocean trash. (3) Polypropylene also produces plastic resin as a byproduct, which must often be discarded without hope of reuse. (5) 

     If all 400 students at school stopped using plastic drinking straws, at 1.6 straws per person per day, we would save 233,600 plastic straws a year. If 724,745 people, or the population of Seattle (6), stopped using straws for a year, we would save 423,251,080 plastic drinking straws. If a plastic straw weighs around .42 grams (7), that's saving the equivalent of 391,906 pounds of plastic from ending up in the Puget Sound and landfills around the city.
     
     To be honest, I'm a little disappointed at the number of plastic straws that I'll be able to save. It's kind of low. However, if I continue this project past its due date, I'll be able to save a lot more. On top of that, if I can raise awareness with this blog and ask my friends to not use straws when we're together, I'll be able to widen my impact and hopefully make more of a difference. 
     
     I'm fairly confident in the accuracy of my information. I saw a lot of the same facts and figures repeated over and over, which speaks to its reliability. I was unable to find specific numbers for the impacts of an individual plastic straw on the environment, which limits my analysis quite significantly. However, I made due and I'm confident in the reliability of what information I do have.

1.  “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Dec. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch.
2. “Recycling Mystery: Plastic Straws.” Earth911.Com, 15 Sept. 2018, earth911.com/home/food-beverage/recycling-mystery-plastic-straws/.
3. Hugh. “Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws (2018 Facts & Statistics).” Get Green Now, 30 Nov. 2018, get-green-now.com/environmental-impact-plastic-straws/.
4. Johnson, Todd. “Learn About the Basics of the Plastic Resin Polypropylene.” Thoughtco., Dotdash, 9 Sept. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/what-is-polypropylene-820365.
5. “Drinking Straw.” How Products Are Made, www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Drinking-Straw.html.
6. https://tinyurl.com/yaggxr4o
7. Borenstein, Seth. “Science Says: Amount of Straws, Plastic Pollution Is Huge.” Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology, Phys.org, 21 Apr. 2018, phys.org/news/2018-04-science-amount-straws-plastic-pollution.html.