![The Best Reusable Drinking Straws in 2019 [Metal, Stainless Steel, Bamboo, Compostable, Glass, Silicone]](http://baristalife.myshopify.com/cdn/shop/articles/seaturtke-takesabreath.jpg?v=1563408981&width=1100)
While plastic straws are a recent invention, the use of hollow tubes to consume liquids have been around for centuries. 5,000 years ago, Ancient Sumerians utilized long, thin tubes to reach liquids sitting below fermentation byproducts while brewing beer.
Fast forward to the 1960s, mass manufacturing infrastructure was put into place to produce plastic straws that would soon spread like wildfire across the consumer market.
As fantastic as a straw is simple, we’ve only finally begun to understand the massive cost to our environment, ecosystem, and our friends in the ocean.
In the United States alone, an estimate suggests 500 million straws are used every single day. Another study estimated as many as 8.3 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches. Eight million tons of plastic flow into the ocean each year, and humans are now waking up to the alternative of reusable straws to consume their favorite beverages. Reusable straw alternatives popping up each day include metal straws, stainless steel straws, glass straws, gold straws, silicone straws, to name a few.
At the beginning of July 2018, Seattle became the largest city to ban plastic straws. The coffee giant and Seattle-native, Starbucks, also announced plans to phase out plastic straws by 2020, replacing the traditional lid-straw combination with an innovative sippy-lid.
Following suit, McDonald’s announced it will ban plastic straws at its U.K. and Ireland restaurants, Alaska Airlines announced they will be one of the first airlines to phase out plastic straws and stirrers.
So, why are plastic straws so bad? Here are some straw facts from StrawlessOcean.org:
- Why are straws so bad?
- Plastic straws are really bad for the ocean. It’s estimated that we use over 500 million every day in America, and most of those end up in our oceans, polluting the water and killing marine life. We want to encourage people to stop using plastic straws for good. If we don’t act now, by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
- Aren’t plastic straws recyclable?
- Most plastic straws are too lightweight to make it through the mechanical recycling sorter. They drop through sorting screens and mix with other materials and are too small to separate, contaminating recycling loads or getting disposed of as garbage.
- How do plastic straws get into the ocean?
- Plastic straws end up in the ocean primarily through human error, often 1) left on beaches in coastal communities and seaside resorts globally 2) littered OR 3) blown out of trash cans (oftentimes overfilled) or transport boats and vehicles.
While some city's waste management infrastructure is sound (like Seattle, for instance), not all communities have the same level of accountability.
Remember, all gutters and storm drains lead to our ocean!
- What happens once straws are in the water?
- When plastic does make it into the ocean it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces known as “microplastics” rather than biodegrading or dissolving, which poses great threats to marine life including fish.
It is projected that by 2050, 99% of all sea bird species will have ingested plastic. Mortality rate can be “up to” 50%. And, already, research has shown plastic in sea salt, 94% of U.S. tap water, and shellfish.
Scientists at the UGA New Materials Institute conducted a new study which discovered microplastics particles smaller than dust or powdered sugar inside baby sea turtles. Of the turtles studies in this research, 100% were found to have eaten plastic. These baby sea turtles were likely dying due to ingested plastic pollution, which threatens the species’ survival.
- How can you get involved with a Strawless Ocean?
- Accept and challenge someone else to #StopSucking as part of our viral social media challenge! Take it one step further and get your favorite bar, restaurant, or coffee shop to #StopSucking with our toolkit. At the very least say “No PLASTIC straw, please!” Get in the habit of asking for no straw before you even order a beverage. And be ready to tell your server why. For more, visit Strawless Ocean
If you’re reading this, kudos to you on doing your part to help our environment and to reduce plastic waste. By investing in a reusable straw, you’re investing in our home and our oceanic friends. Here are our picks and reviews for the best reusable straws broken down by category.
Best Reusable Straw Sections
Section 1: Best Reviewed Metal/Stainless Steel Drinking Straws
Section 2: Best Reviewed Bamboo Straws
Section 3: Best Reviewed Compostable/Paper Straws
Section 4: Best Reviewed Glass Straws
Section 5: Best Reviewed Silicone Straws
Best Reviewed Metal/Stainless Steel Drinking Straws
VEHHE Metal, Stainless Steel Straws
- Comes with 2 straight straws, 2 bent straws, and one cleaning brush to ensure your metal straw stays clean and fresh. Click to see the current price
- 5 Stars - 301 Customer Reviews
- Amazon's Choice
What People are Saying:
Fantastic
Luna - 5 Stars (Verified Purchase)
These are perfect. Low cost, couple straight, couple bent, cleaning brush included, sturdy carrying bag included (I specifically looked for this, because I want to carry one or two in my purse for eating out). I know some people don't like the steel feel (they make washable silicone tips for this), but I don't mind, it just feels a bit heavier.
Good deal. I already stopped using plastic straws, but I missed having them at times so I'm glad to have these.
Cut down on the waste
Kelly M. Guess (Verified Purchase)
I have grown tired of seeing junk tossed on our roadways and in our rivers and oceans. It's crazy the amount of refuse that is discarded on a daily basis in our dump sites. A lot of restaurants and bars are trying to stop from using straws; however, many of us still like to use straws. Therefore, I found the idea of straws that could be reused appealing.
These items are well made and have a nice little pouch so that they can be easily stored in my purse. The pouch includes a brush in order to clean them after use. Hopefully, it will be something that will catch on and rid our planet of unnecessary discards.
See the VEHHE Metal, Stainless Steel Straws on Amazon
VEHHE Metal, Stainless Steel Straw - Ultra-Long Rainbow
- Comes with 2 straight straws, 2 bent straws, and 1 straw cleaning brush. Click to see pricing
- 5 Stars - 609 Customer Reviews
- Available Colors:
- Rose Gold, Rainbow
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What People are Saying:
Stainless Straws Fun!!
Luna - 5 Stars (Verified Purchase)
I love drinking from straws but there is just something about drinking from a stainless still straw. I mainly drink water and it’s so much more refreshing from stainless. I like that it came with some straw cleaners brushes and the color of straws are nice an colorful.
Beautiful, and NO MORE plastic straws
Kelly M. Guess (Verified Purchase)
- The straws are beautiful - I've even gotten compliments on their gem-like colors. These are the tall metal straws - I also have the 8" ones, which and wider and work better with regular-size glasses; the tall ones work best for water bottles, tall drinks like iced tea, etc. If you'd seen the pictures I have, first you'd cry, then you'd promise yourself to do something about it. There is a video of a sea turtle who somehow got a plastic straw jammed all the way up her nostril, and the people are trying to remove it. I cannot imagine the pain for that poor, beautiful turtle. We have to do away with single-use, throw away petroleum plastics for our oceans, our Planet, and all of those wild animals who don't deserve to suffer from our throwaway society - not strangle on loops of plastic, or get tangled in it, or ingest hundreds of single-use plastic grocery bags, as whales, dolphins, and turtles have died with 13, 17, 40 - one sperm whale died from 64 pounds of plastic in her stomach. Getting reusable straws and grocery bags, and drink bottles and other reusable items can save huge amounts of plastics from damaging our oceans and hurting or killing animals.
See the VEHHE Rainbow Straw on Amazon
- Patented design. Seen on Shark Tank, Kickstarter. The collapsable design allows for easy travel and storage. Silicon tips make this straw easy on your teeth. Click to see pricing
- 4.5 Stars - 102 Customer Reviews
- Available Colors:
- Teal/Silver, Suck-ulent Green, Rainbow Suck-ulent Green
What People are Saying:
They Thought of Everything!
BCounted - 5 Stars (Verified Purchase)
This is the best reusable straw out there because it has all the features that one would want when traveling. It has a sectioned stainless steel outer shell with a pliable silicone interior. A slight pull on the outer casing, exposes the silicone interior and allows for the straw to fold into the most compact little case which has a small ring to hang off of a key chain, etc. There is an interior basket where the folded straw goes and when the basket is removed, the open cutout design provides air to circulate to dry the washed straw. To wash the straw, they've included a handy silicone straw cleaner that wraps around the basket for storage. My straw is in rainbow and is really sharp looking. Very well made, seems durable and worth the cost. Multiple people have admired it and asked about it. I have gladly given out the company's name especially to people at juice bars that hand out plastic straws to customers. Only complaint is that I had a very difficult time removing the inner basket for the first time. I love this straw and case so much that I couldn't take a point off.
Great design!
N G (Verified Purchase)
- Great design. The straw is very sturdy and pops out from the folded shape pretty fast - it’s awfully satisfying.
The case is small and quality too. It also comes with the cleaning squeegee which is handy.
Highly recommend this straw!
Good quality, reusable straw for years to come
Namita Soni (Verified Purchase)
- Wonderful product and love the thought put behind it. I feel bad if I have to use single-use plastic straw. With my own final straw, I don't have to worry.
If I have to count a number of straws I avoided using and throwing per year as compared to using FinalStraw, the numbers are quite remarkable.
Easy to use and clean. Works perfectly as advertised. The silicone material looks good quality.
See the VEHHE Rainbow Straw on Amazon
More to come!