# Restaurants and Reducing Plastic **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 7, 2020, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446 "2020-10-07T20:22:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/21 "2020-10-08T15:39:45Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > As a kid growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, most straws were still paper. and I dont remember them getting as soggy as the ones now do. Were they significantly different? Am I remembering wrongly? I think the ones we had then had a thin wax coating that defeats the purpose of them being compostable. Why does everyone need a straw? I never use straws with drinks, and it’s not an environmental thing-- I just don’t like them. I hope that’s not considered threadshitting-- I’m honestly curious what is considered so indispensable about straws-- my son thinks he has to have one every time, but he can’t explain why. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/22 "2020-10-08T15:43:02Z")
I ate at Chipotle over the weekend and after I was done, I stood at the bins for a while trying to figure out which bin (landfill, compost, recycling) to put everything. I think I got it right, but how many people put contaminated plastics in the recycling bin, or stuff that can’t be composted in that bin? Even if you’re trying to do it right, it’s easy to make a mistake, and of course many people just don’t care. So to a certain extent, it doesn’t matter if a restaurant uses compostable or recyclable plastics. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/23 "2020-10-08T16:25:12Z")
Okay. The problem of soggy straws was bothering me so I did some research. I assumed, like **RivkaChaya** that the straws of my youth were coated or impregnated with wax. And so, if not compostable, they were at least more biodegradable, and therefore more eco friendly, than plastic ones. Turns out, not so much. Straws and indeed all “paper” food products, for quite some time, have not been coated with wax but polyethylene. Which, of course, is plastic. This includes things like milk cartons, french fry boxes, even “paper” plates! Almost every paper product that comes in contact with food is coated in plastic. Sigh. [https://recyclespot.marcblogs.org/2017/07/13/melting-myths-about-wax-coated-food-containers/](https://recyclespot.marcblogs.org/2017/07/13/melting-myths-about-wax-coated-food-containers/) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/24 "2020-10-08T16:30:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I ate at Chipotle over the weekend and after I was done, I stood at the bins for a while trying to figure out which bin (landfill, compost, recycling) to put everything. I think I got it right, but how many people put contaminated plastics in the recycling bin, or stuff that can’t be composted in that bin? Even if you’re trying to do it right, it’s easy to make a mistake, and of course many people just don’t care. So to a certain extent, it doesn’t matter if a restaurant uses compostable or recyclable plastics. Yeah, in the article **eschereal** linked, the taco chain found the same thing - asking people to sort was not working, so they just went to making all their stuff compostable so there was only one bin to throw it all into. Much better success. It turns out “contaminated” compost containing plastic is really undesirable and so downstream consumers will stop buying it. Keeping it pure means there will more likely be a buyer/market for the compost. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/25 "2020-10-08T17:04:06Z")
> [@mikecurtis](#): > > I dont understand why this is. As a kid growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, most straws were still paper. and I dont remember them getting as soggy as the ones now do. Were they significantly different? Am I remembering wrongly? What’s the deal? The 60’s and 70’s saw the expansion of beverage sizes. The kind of straw that was durable enough to handle 6-1/2 and 10 ounce bottles or 12 ounce cans of Coke are not going to last long enough for today’s half-liter “medium” drinks. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/26 "2020-10-08T17:28:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Why does everyone need a straw? I think the ascendancy of straw use must have begun in the 1940s or so, when young people would go to the fountain (counter/bar) at the Rexall and get a malted or a float. Floats are kind of difficult without a straw, and sharing your malted with your sweetheart is much easier with two (bendy) straws. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/27 "2020-10-08T17:32:36Z")
I don’t know when they changed to plastic coating, but in the '60’s and '70;s they were definitely wax coated. They’re still available that way today: [https://uguisustore.com/products/wax-coated-paper-drinking-straws](https://uguisustore.com/products/wax-coated-paper-drinking-straws) I remember the irony of having to use two of the 1/8" straws for your dink because they barely offered more a tiny sip with just one. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/28 "2020-10-08T17:39:34Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I remember the irony of having to use two of the 1/8" straws for your dink because they barely offered more a tiny sip with just one. Yeah, but some of the modern plastic straws are such sewer pipes that you cannot get decent draw on them. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/29 "2020-10-08T17:44:39Z")
LOL! I don’t know how people drink with those boba straws! When you do manage to get the flow going you get a flood of liquid in your mouth. I’ve never had a boba drink, but I’ve always wondered how people manage not to just swallow the balls in the wash of liquid. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/30 "2020-10-08T18:05:07Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > I don’t know when they changed to plastic coating, but in the '60’s and '70;s they were definitely wax coated. That’s what I thought, too. The process for coating paper with PE began to flourish around 1954. Those ubiquitous white paper coffee cups have apparently always been PE coated. And while I’m, so far, only finding anecdotal evidence, it seems that the fast food industry (McD’s, BK, and the like) switched over in the early 70’s, or earlier. So, while wax coated straws are definitely a thing, it’s probably not the thing we’re remembering. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/31 "2020-10-08T18:28:57Z")
It may have been plastic, but I remember being able to idly scrape the coating off paper straws and it flaked off, not peeled. I also remember that before plastic straws, the durability of them changed. I suspect that’s when they switched to plastic coatings. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/32 "2020-10-08T18:44:01Z")
If I’m prepared to use a plastic single serve straw, I have no problem with paper ones. The ones I’ve seen are not coated, last a few hours (long enough for me) and are adequate. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/33 "2020-10-11T22:19:10Z")
Can I ask again, why use them? I never do. I just drink out of the cup. Am I the only person in the world who prefers this to drinking with a straw? A long time ago, I would use a straw when I had a drink in the car, because it was easy to spill from an open cup, since I wasn’t looking at it, but I learned simply not to fill them all the way up so they wouldn’t spill. I never finish them anyway. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/34 "2020-10-11T23:29:57Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Styrofoam Out of all the things listed, polystyrene is most easily recycled. We were going to start doing it where I work. Had the machine to shred and compact into cubes? I don’t know. They spent big $$$ on the machine, had it delivered and placed and all the necessary wiring installed only to find that the machine they bought was wired up and designed for european power systems. I don’t know why it couldn’t have been made to work here, regulatory, safety, just plain too incompatible or what, but it went away. Polystyrene foam makes more polystyrene foam with what amounts to almost zero processing ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/35 "2020-10-12T00:01:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Am I the only person in the world who prefers this to drinking with a straw? You and me both. I can’t remember the last time I used a straw. My daughter gave me a stainless steel one a couple years ago and it hasn’t been touched. If I had a milkshake at a restaurant, then I’d use a straw. Other than that, I can’t think of when I’d ever use one. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/36 "2020-10-12T00:15:26Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Can I ask again, why use them? Disclaimer: I’m fussy. 🙂 I find that, if I drink soda with ice in it directly from a cup, the cold from the ice irritates my upper lip. So, if I’m getting a soft drink at a restaurant, I prefer using a straw. At home, if I’m drinking soda, it’s from a can from the refrigerator, and it doesn’t bother my lip in the same way. If straws went away, I’m sure that I’d get used to it, but that’s why I use a straw today. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/37 "2020-10-12T00:26:41Z")
I like straws if I’m driving, but otherwise don’t care much. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/38 "2020-10-12T08:51:08Z")
because here in cleveland, they considered reusable cloth bags could carry the virus, so stopped the ban on plastic bags ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/39 "2020-10-12T09:31:34Z")
Seems a bit knee jerk - I mean, you could say the same thing about clothing ---
**Author:** ![mundylion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundylion/32/3604_2.png) [@mundylion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mundylion)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446/40 "2020-10-12T17:54:00Z")
Common around here, chicago area, for stores to refuse to accept customer provided bags. Whole Foods, for instance, has banned them since Spring. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/restaurants-and-reducing-plastic/922446.md?page=3)