SU recently banned straws from five of its residential halls, and while that’s a step in the right direction, it’s not very effective.

SU’s Food Services has decided to opt for a more sustainable paper straw alternative. Considering an anti-plastic straw sentiment that has spread across social platforms of late, this isn’t surprising.

Mark Tewksbury, assistant director of Concessions and Merchandise Services, said the popularity of the topic influenced the decision.

“Recent trends gave us the idea to remove plastic straws from our dining centers,” Tewksbury said. “Offering paper straws allows us to be more sustainable while also ensuring our campus community members have access to straws for their beverages.”

Of the straws that are disposed of daily in the United States, most end up in landfills or oceans where they break down into microscopic pieces, called microplastics. These microplastics layer the oceans’ surfaces and are ingested by aquatic life and, eventually, humans.

Laura Angle| Digital Design Editor

These plastics are harmful, wasteful and ultimately unnecessary. The promotion of steel, paper, glass and bamboo straw alternatives is a great and environmentally-friendly transition.

However, in comparison to straws, waste from other plastic products such as shopping bags, balloons, toothbrushes, tampons and fishing nets have more damaging effects.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the world’s largest collection of floating trash, is made up of 79,000 metric tons of plastic – most of which is abandoned fishing gear. Microplastics only amount to about eight percent of the total trash pile.

Laura Angle| Digital Design Editor

We should focus on alleviating other sources of plastic pollution. SU simply following the trend of banning plastic straws discourages individual thought regarding our environmental footprint.

So, in some ways, the ban may be do more harm than good against the environment. People might begin to simply focus on trends, ignoring the necessity of innovation and the promotion of new concepts to deal with more serious, dangerous environmental issues.

Emily Cerrito is a television, radio and film major. Her column appears bi-weekly. You can reach her at ercerrit@syr.edu.

Published on October 2, 2018 at 7:55 pm