The ban on plastic straws does more harm to the environment than good
With the help of education, the government no longer needs to ban the use of plastic straws. As a matter of fact, plastic straws can actually be recycled when they are cleaned properly. In Taiwan, there is a company called “Da Fon Environmental Technology CO” which has recycled up to 500kg of plastic straws. However, many counties in Taiwan do not consider plastic straws as recyclable items, despite the fact that they are made of polypropylene, which should be recycled by law. This is primarily due to their small volume and the perceived high cost to recycle them. One way to deal with this problem is if the government can educate people on sorting plastic straws properly, thus allowing recycling operators to gather and recycle them in large amounts. In this case, since recycling a large amount of plastic straws can solve the problem of tiny volume and lower the cost, we wouldn’t need to develop alternatives or continue ban to the use of plastic straws.
People used to carry things with paper bags, and after a period of time, they found that the paper bags were easily damaged, which means they had to cut down the forest and caused numbers of trash. To solve this problem, plastic was invented. It was reusable, more durable than paper and won’t cause destruction to the woods. With these advantages and the low price, plastic soon became the most commonly used material and used widely in a variety of forms. However, a century passed, people discovered its disadvantages gradually, plastic pollution is influencing our lives and people are trying to find alternatives to plastic. History repeated itself. How could we ensure that the solution now won’t bring us harm in the future? Thus, since plastic straws are recyclable, the better way to solve plastic is to educate people to recycle them properly, not just take them away.
Another example of why Taiwan should end the ban on plastic straws is provided by the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources in Singapore, who believed that banning plastic straws and charging for plastic bags could solve the problems of pollution long term. Since they considered plastic as a necessary material and that other materials might not be more environmentally-friendly than plastic, at first the fundamental problem couldn’t be solved. Instead they promoted policies to increase the target recycling rate up to 70 percent by rewarding merchants that follow the recycling principle and reducing the packaging. In this way, people can still use convenient plastic straws and there won’t be as much plastic pollution since merchants will recycle them for rewards.
As you can see, banning plastic straws is not the permanent way to stop the pollution. Therefore, we think of a new policy which could be implemented with education. Restaurants and tea shops could still provide customers with plastic straws. After using, people simply rinse them and throw into the specialized bin in any convenient stores around. Clerks would delivered to recycling departments. There would be cleaning machines to clean those straws thoroughly. That is, plastic straws would be recycled in large amounts.
After all, plastic straw are still the most convenient and easiest to use, especially for children and the elderly since they are bendable to drink and handy to obtain.If the problem of pollution can be solved by education, recycling and better technology, then there are no more reasons for banning plastic straws.
NOT JUST BAN THEM, EDUCATING IS BETTER THAN FORCING THEM
PLASTIC STRAWS IS JUST AN OPTION, PEOPLE CAN STILL USE OTHERS CHOICES
CANNOT ENSURE WHAT GOVERNMENT PROMISE WILL PRACTICE
resources
https://www.enfrecycling.com/da-fon-environmental-technology-co-ltd/id/3831
