I want to help the animals who cannot speak for themselves. Could we all think about what we buy? How will it disintegrate or go into landfill or fly into the ocean?
Long live Crush & Squirt
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Really... this can almost make me cry. Why, oh why, are we humans so utterly self-centered? How can we not understand the damage we continue to inflict on the planet, the universe, on wildlife, etc.?
Wildlife are dying, and all because we so nonchalantly toss garbage into our oceans?? And why the need for so much plastic in the first place? There is NO need for plastic straws. NO need for one-time use plastic shopping bags. Businesses need to stop automatically providing plasticware with each and every takout/delivery order. Why aren't more stores and markets allowing for customers to bring their own storage containers...their own bags...their own bottles, etc., to refill at the store/market?
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@Lisa -- Agreed that we could and should do far more to reduce our use of plastic. But there is a real need in the disabled community for plastic straws. Reusable ones are just too hard to clean and/or impracticable for many situations.
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@ST I think you meant to say there is a need for straws in the disabled community. Paper and other alternatives exist. They don't need to be plastic.
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Untrue. Carers can easily clean reusables, and bent and angled reusable straws are widely available. Worst case is buy your own plastic, and being them with you to restaurants. Banning plastic straws will save wildlife. Humans can adapt, wildlife can't.
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Why do we abuse the mother that feeds us?
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While in some cases the specific cause of death in sea turtles may not be determined, it's difficult to ignore that at the root of most deaths is mankind and our irreverence and disrespect to creatures of the water and land.
I am constantly picking up a plethora of plastic items in our back alley on a daily basis because Lake Michigan is only a block away. It's frightening to think what ends up in that lake from the trash thrown away in the alley, sidewalk and street and blown over into the lake.
These articles make me cry but they are so important to write for others to realize the harm and damage our behavior has on these beautiful creatures. Thank you for this story.
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Thank you for including information about the study's deficiencies - articles about ocean plastic waste often end up as one sided Chicken Little style stories.
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