Stop routine use of straws

A MAJOR health and environmental concern is the plastic that is in our food sources, especially sea food. Much of the plastic comes from our heavy use and abuse of plastics with careless disposal, often ending up in the sea. Most of us are consuming plastic in our foods.
There are many sources of plastic waste, from our fascination with disposable water bottles to plastic bags to packed food and drinks.
One serious source of plastic waste is plastic straws. We use millions of plastic straws every year.
A conservative estimate is that we use more than 20,000,000 plastic straws a week. For example if one third of Malaysians eat out twice a week and order one drink each time with a plastic straw, we would be using more than 20 million straws a week, more than 1 billion straws a year. As mentioned, these are conservative estimates. The reality is much worse. Plastic pollution is of a much larger magnitude. Usage in Malaysia is possibly more like 5-10 million plastic straws a day.
On the whole our recycling is poor. Most of us have a limited ecological awareness and saving our environment is not on the mind of the average person. We need to recognise that every small bit counts.
While we wait for the average Malaysian to change, we appeal to all our food outlets to stop dispensing straws routinely for any cold or hot drink and make them only available to customers who request them. We should offer straws to people who need them, perhaps some people with motor dysfunction or other disability.
The general public don't need a straw to drink, it is just an excess. Have a "straws on request" policy. Remember it saves money as well and makes your food outlet more competitive and eco-friendly.
We also appeal to all Malaysians to request that their drinks come without straws. We all need to play our part and acknowledge the damage to environment and educate our fellow Malaysians to avoid using straws as far as possible. Make the plastic straw you used yesterday the last one you'll ever use.
Five key facts on plastic
» 80-90% of all marine debris is made from plastic.
» Straws are too small to be easily recycled, so they are disposed as trash and often end up in the ocean.
» Straws are very harmful to animals, especially marine life. Most are ingested or entrap them.
» Plastics take 400-500 years to degrade.
» Some studies have shown that one third of all fish that we eat has ingested plastics.
One review of plastic waste into the oceans put Malaysia as a moderate plastic polluters. Asian countries are among the largest of polluters.
So the next time you go out for a meal or drink, remember to say: "Give me that drink without a straw please." Tomorrow may be one straw too late.
Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS
Ipoh