There’s no doubt that, at some point, we all had a secret love for bendy straws or the colorful, assorted packs that we’d always make our parents buy at the store. Did you know that straws are now among the top 10 plastic items found polluting our oceans?
In 2018, plastic straws and stirrers made up nearly three percent of recovered trash from our beaches and oceans. Isn’t it crazy to think that such small things can add up to so much potential harm to our environment and sea creatures? In fact, GetGreenNow reported that the U.S. uses roughly 500 million straws every day. So, where do those all end up at the end of the day?
In short, plastic isn’t biodegradable—meaning, once littered into our environment from not being recycled properly, they never fully go away—they mostly end up in the ocean where it dangerously effects all of our marine life. Strawless Ocean reported that when marine animals ingest plastic, there’s a 50 percent chance they won’t survive because of it.
Used straws collected from a beach cleanup. It’s time to say “suck it, straws!”
With that, let’s take responsibility and accountability for our actions and work together to fix what we started. All of us at CheapCaribbean, plus over 100 of our resort partners, have already pledged to say “suck it, straws!” and we want you to join us! We’re tired of seeing straws washed up on our coastlines and mortality rates of marine life rising because of our toxic waste. Take the pledge to go straw-free and follow along on our continuous efforts to help save the sea.
Want to know how to get more involved with ocean conservation? Check out our Beach Lover’s Guide to Saving Our Oceans to get you started! Together, we can make a huge difference!
