Despite the best efforts and campaigns to eradicate the use of straws, it’s ever more apparent that we need a reliable and sustainable alternative to plastic straws. Plastic is unsustainable, and there are straightforward ways in which we could still accommodate modern trends far more sustainably.
Ecofriendly choices such as hemp can be game-changers for the environment, and hemp straws are no different. Straws made out of hemp can offer the same durability and strength as they contain bioplastic from hemp, ensuring they don’t disintegrate but don’t leave an aftertaste like the steel or bamboo options.
Since hemp drinking straws are plant-based, they are fully biodegradable. They are made from hemp fiber which is an extract of hemp stalks. The raw material is organic. Therefore, hemp straws are sustainable. The straws are an excellent alternative to conventional plastic straws or paper straws.
Uses of Hemp Drinking Straws
You can use hemp drinking straws for taking your favorite cold drink or plain water. Like conventional plastic straws, hemp straws are ideal for home and commercial use. Commercially, they can be used in the food and beverage industry, restaurants, and fast food outlets when serving customers drinks. They are also available in different colors, making them attractive to adults and kids alike.
About Single-use Plastic Straws
Plastic straws are mostly single-use and disposable after use. They are, therefore, worse than other plastic items because they are single-use items. They are also used very frequently globally, which causes an environmental hazard.
It is estimated that in the USA alone, about 500 million single-use plastics are used daily. That is an estimated 18 billion straws in one year alone. That can explain why straws are among the top ten items found during beach clean-ups.
Benefits of Hemp Straws
1. Sturdy and an excellent alternative to Conventional straws
Hemp straws are sturdier than paper straws and are an excellent alternative to traditional plastic straws. They are also more practical than paper straws because when dipped in a drink, they do not disintegrate. You can use hemp plastic straws instead of conventional plastic straws or paper straws.
2. Hemp disposable Straws Come from a renewable Raw Material
As mentioned earlier, hemp straws are plant-based. The industrial hemp plant is an annual crop that takes about three months to reach full maturity. Besides, farming hemp requires few fertilizers and little water compared to other plants. This makes hemp a sustainable plant to grow. Because hemp farming uses few fertilizers, it can be intercropped with food crops more efficiently. Contrarily, other products like cotton use a lot of fertilizers and are thus not ideal for farming food crops.
3. Sustainability
That is why hemp is a sustainable crop. Since hemp is an annual crop, it can be planted yearly to supply enough raw materials for factories manufacturing hemp straws and other eco-friendly products from its bio-plastic.
Unfortunately, conventional straws are plastic. Plastic comes from fossil fuels which are a non-renewable resource with limited. The supplies are limited and found in only some parts of the world. Eventually, the resources will get depleted. We must start switching to alternative petroleum-based plastic to produce sustainable and biodegradable straws and other bio-plastic products.
4. Hemp Straws are Biodegradable
Hemp straws come from 100% organic material. As such, it takes less than six months to decompose fully. This means that even if dumping of hemp straws into the oceans will still happen (we hope it won’t), there won’t be a sign of it in less than a year. This is why hemp straws are an excellent alternative to conventional straws.
5. Hemp Plastic Straws are Not Pricey
Because they are eco-friendly and biodegradable, straws made from hemp tend to be somewhat pricier than conventional plastic straws. However, the price is still relatively comparable. For example, for USD 20, you can buy a box of 100 hemp straws.
Conventional straws
On the other hand, conventional straws are made from non-biodegradable and mostly non-recyclable materials since they are petroleum-based products. Plastic straws contain polypropylene which takes centuries to decompose. Polypropylene is also not easy to recycle. Unfortunately, plastic straws find their way into marine ecosystems, which is an environmental hazard.
Plastic straws account for land, beach, and ocean pollution because there is no proper way to discard them. They end up choking marine wildlife because they break down into tiny pieces but don’t decompose. Marine wildlife also ends up ingesting small aquatic amounts of plastic. The result is poor marine health.
Hemp absorbs carbon dioxide from the environment during photosynthesis and releases much-needed oxygen into the atmosphere. The industrial hemp plant uses more carbon dioxide in comparison to other plants.
Converting fossil fuels to plastic is not eco-friendly and has significant adverse environmental effects. Manufacturing conventional straws release carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the environment. Greenhouse gases are responsible for air, and water pollution and global warming, which leads to climate change. Climate change has already caused significant damage to the planet. Some of the hazards include species extinction and floods. Other adverse effects are shrinking glaciers, intensive heat waves, and decreasing sea ice.
The Future of Hemp Straws
There is hope for biodegradable hemp straws in the future. This is because fossil fuel resources are limited. As a result, the depletion of resources calls for alternative sustainable help like hemp bio-plastics.
Secondly, hemp straws are a better and more robust alternative than paper straws, an alternative in comparison to paper straws which are also eco-friendly. In addition, more consumers and governments are getting increasingly sensitive to global warming issues. Some countries have banned conventional straws because they are not eco-friendly.
Besides that, hemp is a legal product without cultivation restrictions anymore. However, its association with marijuana prohibited its use in the USA and many parts of the world for many decades. Since the 1970s, hemp has been classified as a controlled substance plant in the USA.
The 2018 Farm Bill
Noteworthy, the signing of the 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp. The plant is expected to be a raw material in many industries. But since hemp farming legalization happened recently, it will take time for systems to be set up in farming and manufacturing and supply enough raw materials.
That said, more and more consumers are aware of global warming effects. Some have been affected by extreme changes in climate. We, therefore, expect more consumers to demand hemp straws in the future.
Conclusion
The legalization of the 2018 Hemp Farm Bill has opened a new chapter of hemp products. However, it takes time to implement a new bill. We expect that biodegradable hemp straws will take over petroleum-based straws. Stay tuned for more information on Hemp drinking Starws.
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