Donald Trump ends ‘forced’ use of paper straws

By Rachel Walker

President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order to end the ‘procurement and forced use of paper straws’ in the United States.

The order comes into effect immediately and puts an end to a measure that former President Joe Biden implemented to help combat plastic pollution.

“We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump told reporters as he signed the order.

The Trump administration insisted that it is ‘bringing back common sense’ and is stopping the ‘irrational’ campaign against plastic straws.

‘Disgust’ for paper straws

Trump sold branded plastic straws during his 2020 election campaign and has previously spoken of his ‘disgust’ for paper straws.

“These things don’t work, I’ve had them many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode.

“If something’s hot, they don’t last very long, like a matter of minutes, sometimes a matter of seconds. It’s a ridiculous situation,” Trump said.

The order means that the government will be directed to stop purchasing paper straws and ensure they are no longer provided within Federal buildings.

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A statement on the White House website informed readers that ‘paper straws are more expensive than plastic straws, and often force users to use multiple straws’.

Environmental concerns

Environmentalists, including famed nature presenter Sir David Attenborough, have long campaigned for an end to plastic straws and other single use plastics, saying they pollute the environment, especially seas and oceans.

Sir David has previously used his British nature documentaries to highlight the issue of plastic waste and the harm that plastic straws can inflict on marine life.

An episode of his famous documentary series, Blue Planet II, showed baby birds feeding on bits of plastic, coastlines covered in pollution, and marine environments full of plastic waste.

Is there a ‘perfect’ solution?

The Trump administration has claimed, amongst other things, that paper straws aren’t actually the eco-friendly alternative they claim to be and that studies have shown producing paper straws can have a larger carbon footprint than that of plastic straws.

A recent study by researchers at the University of Antwerp, Belgium, found that paper straws actually contain more ‘forever chemicals’ than their plastic counterparts.

However, this issue just seems to be the ‘straw’ that broke the global camel’s back.

The issue with plastic waste

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates that around 380 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced globally each year, with around 23 million tonnes finding its way into the environment.

From that about 1.7 million tonnes end up in the ocean annually.

“The straw became the symbol of a choice an individual could make that also has an impact,” Erin Simon, vice president for plastic waste and business at the World Wildlife Fund, said in a recent interview.

“And while we know it’s not that simple, and the problem goes far beyond the use of plastic straws, a global crisis like plastic pollution can only be solved when everyone does their part.”

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