Plastic Straws to be Discontinued on Celebrity

[NLH Arizona]

I learned when quite young the "proper" way to hold a tea cup, the correct way for the little finger to be placed. I am not sure I have ever seen anyone sip tea through a straw and I cannot imagine what the "proper" way to do that might be. I think I will stick with tea cups.

 

Stan

I thought they were speaking about drinking iced tea, not hot tea.

[Anita Latte]

Some are challenging the idea that paper is environmentally superior to plastic. And there is much evidence to question the superiority of paper. Do you just want to do something or to take the best course of action? Which, BTW, might be plastic.

 

What I think is seriously missing from this discussion is the impact plastic has on the ANIMALS of the world. Not just the ENVIRONMENT in general. Specifically, plastic straws...not plastic bags or other plastics in general. A simple google search yields many hits on how plastic is harmful to marine life...specifically, plastic straws because they are problematic by their very nature.

[RocketMan275]

What I think is seriously missing from this discussion is the impact plastic has on the ANIMALS of the world. Not just the ENVIRONMENT in general. Specifically, plastic straws...not plastic bags or other plastics in general. A simple google search yields many hits on how plastic is harmful to marine life...specifically, plastic straws because they are problematic by their very nature.

 

The cruise line isn't dumping plastic straws into the ENVIRONMENT so this change will have no effect on the ANIMALS. That means this change is nothing more than political correct virtue signalling.

[J & G]

I think we'll bring our own plastic straws, as I use those in cold drinks to keep the cold from hurting my front teeth. Paper straws are more expensive and become soft and unappealing to use very quickly.

 

And besides, the whole debate centers on data extrapolated from a 9- year old's science project. More info here!

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-07/plastic-straws-aren-t-the-problem

 

 

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[Anita Latte]

The cruise line isn't dumping plastic straws into the ENVIRONMENT so this change will have no effect on the ANIMALS. That means this change is nothing more than political correct virtue signalling.

 

I never meant to suggest that Celebrity was dumping into the environment directly. However...there is no denying that there is trash and garbage that has ended up in places where no trash or garbage should be...no matter how diligent and careful waste management is. Just like sex...the best way to prevent many consequences is abstinence. For straw pollution prevention...abstinence for straws mean not using straws in the first place.

 

I'm very surprised that plastic straw usage is such a heated topic...who knew?

[I_r_a]

..... the liitle milk type water containers they have at some hotels are awkward for some uses....more so with a paper straw!

 

I am intrigued.

 

Please, tell us more.

 

Ira

[RocketMan275]

I think we'll bring our own plastic straws, as I use those in cold drinks to keep the cold from hurting my front teeth. Paper straws are more expensive and become soft and unappealing to use very quickly.

 

And besides, the whole debate centers on data extrapolated from a 9- year old's science project. More info here!

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-07/plastic-straws-aren-t-the-problem

 

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Excellent article. Too bad too few have read it.

[Ashland]

I learned when quite young the "proper" way to hold a tea cup, the correct way for the little finger to be placed. I am not sure I have ever seen anyone sip tea through a straw and I cannot imagine what the "proper" way to do that might be. I think I will stick with tea cups.

 

Stan

Sorry you misunderstood as I was referring to Ice Tea....I too went to "Charm School"...it was the "proper" thing to do for a young southern lady ....long time ago. ;)

[SCGirl3211]

You are unaware of the amount of plastic material sea animals and birds ingest mistaking the plastic for food and suffering greatly when they do ingest plastic balloons, paper bags and straws. Plastic particles are now found in many turtle eggs. That is how pervasive the problem of plastic contamination of the ocean has become.

 

My daughter-in-law works at a sea turtle rescue charity. Believe me, it is not just a scheme to get gullible people to donate money.

 

Paper straws may not help much, but they are a start. I applaud Celebrity for making such a start. By the way, paper straws cost more than plastic straws which is why many restaurants and hotels (and Starbucks) still serve plastic straws.

 

 

 

It only takes one time seeing for your own eyes these sea turtles, manatees or dolphins suffer from ingesting plastic to make you realize giving up a straw or a plastic bag is really not that much of a sacrifice. Do some research before you start spouting off about fake reports!

 

 

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[Wine-O]

It only takes one time seeing for your own eyes these sea turtles, manatees or dolphins suffer from ingesting plastic to make you realize giving up a straw or a plastic bag is really not that much of a sacrifice. Do some research before you start spouting off about fake reports!

 

The issue with this thread is Celebrity doing away with plastic straws. Since they don't dump any plastic into the oceans and send all their trash to landfills, how is doing away with plastic straws on Celebrity affecting the turtles, manatees, or dolphins? It's all a "feel good, hey look at me" exercise. :rolleyes:

[lisiamc]

The issue with this thread is Celebrity doing away with plastic straws. Since they don't dump any plastic into the oceans and send all their trash to landfills, how is doing away with plastic straws on Celebrity affecting the turtles, manatees, or dolphins? It's all a "feel good, hey look at me" exercise. :rolleyes:

 

From what I’ve read, many places outsource their recycling. The plastic is loaded up on barges, and shipped off to some other country. On the way, the cargo is sometimes lost into the sea. Other times, from what I’ve heard, the country who has agreed to do the recycling just throws the plastic into the ocean on purpose. If use of plastic is reduced, there is less chance of it being mishandled in the disposal/recycling phase. Not providing straws is a small step, but it makes a good start.

[mom says]

The issue with this thread is Celebrity doing away with plastic straws. Since they don't dump any plastic into the oceans and send all their trash to landfills, how is doing away with plastic straws on Celebrity affecting the turtles, manatees, or dolphins? It's all a "feel good, hey look at me" exercise. :rolleyes:

 

So no one should do anything about reducing single use plastics, because they aren't directly contributing to the problem? Disregarding the irresponsible cruisers who flip their straws overboard, are you 100% convinced that none of the plastics offloaded from ships, supposedly destined for landfills, don't end up accidently or purposefully dumped elsewhere, and end up in the water? How else do you account for the millions of tons of plastics currently found in our oceans? And no, I'm not suggesting that cruise ship straws account for all of this mess.

 

But do you not see that this is just one small step in a plan for an overall reduction in single use plastics? Can you honestly say that this is not a good thing?

 

This attitude of "its someone else's problem so I don't have to do anything" is one of the reasons why the Earth is turning into a giant garbage heap.

 

Oh, and Celebrity is not the only cruise line who is getting rid of plastic straws, among other things.

[cruise kitty]

Excellent article. Too bad too few have read it.

 

Interesting read from the opinion columns. :)

 

I agree that there are much, much bigger steps that need to be taken, & repairs to the extreme backsliding of the last 18 months or so, but starting with plastic straws certainly isn't going to hurt anyone. & no, Celebrity banning them alone won't help. but hopefully others will follow.

Plus, paper straws are just prettier :)

[miched]

I would never use a metal straw or a hard rigid straw of any kind. One slip and it can puncture the roof of your mouth. Providing or using them on a ship would be very dangous as many would be using them while walking that would be bad enough but even sitting down a sudden jerk could cause a catastrophe.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[GottaKnowWhen]

...but even sitting down a sudden jerk could cause a catastrophe.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

I try to avoid jerks of any kind while cruising and I always practice safe sip.

 

But all this talk about straws reminded me that we have a lovely set of silver bombillas that we bought in Argentina a few years ago. Their design purpose is to sip maté from the gourd, but they will work just fine for adult beverages etc. I'll give it a try on Summit in 8 days! And I will definitely be sure to avoid jerks.

 

Stan

[NLH Arizona]

Interesting read from the opinion columns. :)

 

I agree that there are much, much bigger steps that need to be taken, & repairs to the extreme backsliding of the last 18 months or so, but starting with plastic straws certainly isn't going to hurt anyone. & no, Celebrity banning them alone won't help. but hopefully others will follow.

Plus, paper straws are just prettier :)

Other cruise lines have stepped up and are banning plastic straws and there are now some cities banning them and many restaurants are as well. Starbucks and McDonalds in the UK are going to paper straws, so hopefully the US stores will follow.

[cruise kitty]

Other cruise lines have stepped up and are banning plastic straws and there are now some cities banning them and many restaurants are as well. Starbucks and McDonalds in the UK are going to paper straws, so hopefully the US stores will follow.

 

It has to start somewhere. Like a mini evolution, tiny steps, back, forward, sideways, & then a sudden leap forward. :)

[DYKWIA]

So no one should do anything about reducing single use plastics, because they aren't directly contributing to the problem? Disregarding the irresponsible cruisers who flip their straws overboard, are you 100% convinced that none of the plastics offloaded from ships, supposedly destined for landfills, don't end up accidently or purposefully dumped elsewhere, and end up in the water? How else do you account for the millions of tons of plastics currently found in our oceans? And no, I'm not suggesting that cruise ship straws account for all of this mess.

 

But do you not see that this is just one small step in a plan for an overall reduction in single use plastics? Can you honestly say that this is not a good thing?

 

This attitude of "its someone else's problem so I don't have to do anything" is one of the reasons why the Earth is turning into a giant garbage heap.

 

Oh, and Celebrity is not the only cruise line who is getting rid of plastic straws, among other things.

 

It is certainly the case that plastic from the UK (collected ias part of recycling schemes) destined for recycling has ended up being illegally exported abroad and businesses are now being prosecuted . Sometimes the illegal export happens because the country can't handle the material, often good recyclable material is contaminated ( straws will be difficult to clean) .

 

Plastic Straws, particularly at sea, will also easily become wind blown litter.

 

Worldwide recycling markets are very vulnerable to price fluctuations. What is collected with a view to a profit today can be a loss making problem tomorrow. China used to accept huge quantities of plastics, now I believe it doesn't it bans their import.

 

My wife has worked in Environmental Law enforcement for 30 years. In Europe, legislation must also complicate matters for ships bringing material ashore. The European Waste Shipment regulations place tough restrictions on Waste being exported from one country to another. It must be a legal mine field for cruise lines generating Waste as to what the law requires when that material is brought ashore.

 

This is an interesting article by a leading U.K. Environmental consultancy, that I am familiar with, on some of the legal issues https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/shipping-wastes/

Edited June 10, 2018 by DYKWIA

[The_Big_M]

Straws probably make up 1/100,000 of a percent of the plastics a ship takes on in stores for a 14-night cruise. Eliminating plastic straws is somehow going to save the planet? Aren't they doing something similar out in California? It's really hard to understand the liberal mindset. :rolleyes:

 

Don't see where they claim the planet will be saved.

 

But keep coming up with accusations if it makes you feel better. It's really hard to understand the wasteful, harmful mindset.

[The_Big_M]

The cruise line isn't dumping plastic straws into the ENVIRONMENT so this change will have no effect on the ANIMALS. That means this change is nothing more than political correct virtue signalling.

 

Does that mean that straws don't get lost (e.g. fly off) in transit between disposal on ship and where they wind up on land? That passengers don't drop them on the ship and they fly/fall off the edge into the ocean?

 

Odd that you dismiss any possibility but 100% removal from the environment totally, especially as ships sail on the ocean.

 

Lol @ "virtue signalling".

 

Most of the time it's actually business oriented economic signalling that's behind such changes.

[The_Big_M]

 

My wife has worked in Environmental Law enforcement for 30 years. In Europe, legislation must also complicate matters for ships bringing material ashore. The European Waste Shipment regulations place tough restrictions on Waste being exported from one country to another. It must be a legal mine field for cruise lines generating Waste as to what the law requires when that material is brought ashore.

 

They go where it's accepted, but also for obvious reasons where it's cheapest (e.g. certain plastics in one port, one type of glass in another port). You can imagine the compromised outcome when the cheapest is chosen... just because it's cheaper for them to dispose.

 

That's the reason so much was sent to China. People recycled because they thought it would actually be... recycled. Then China offered to take it on cheaply and then waste companies sent tonnes thousands of km around the world just because it was the cheapest way. And there's not a lot of recycling of every day materials that goes on in China...

[cruise47]

The issue with this thread is Celebrity doing away with plastic straws. Since they don't dump any plastic into the oceans and send all their trash to landfills, how is doing away with plastic straws on Celebrity affecting the turtles, manatees, or dolphins? It's all a "feel good, hey look at me" exercise. :rolleyes:

 

Your comments are true and very well written.

Also, Celebrity will be saving some money by not purchasing plastic straws on their nine ships.

[NLH Arizona]

It has to start somewhere. Like a mini evolution, tiny steps, back, forward, sideways, & then a sudden leap forward. :)

I hope plastic bags are next, especially when you see that a pilot whale died with 17 pounds of plastic in his stomach, which included 80 plastic bags.

[lisiamc]

I hope plastic bags are next, especially when you see that a pilot whale died with 17 pounds of plastic in his stomach, which included 80 plastic bags.

 

There aren’t many plastic bags for use by passengers on a cruise ship. Bin liners are about the only ones I can think of. Hopefully better ideas are in the pipeline to replace those everywhere.

[NLH Arizona]

There aren’t many plastic bags for use by passengers on a cruise ship. Bin liners are about the only ones I can think of. Hopefully better ideas are in the pipeline to replace those everywhere.

I was speaking in general, not just on cruise ships.