moving away
from paper
We’ve all seen straws. You get 2 or 3 with every visit to lose oxygen gen-
the drivethrough. Pick one up with a latte to stir in
erated from trees
your sugar, and sometimes you get a nice bendy and
bright one inside a cereal box. The other day, I went to
go see a movie-I bought a large Diet Coke® for $4.99
and grabbed a giant straw to accompany it.
My clumsy self ended up ended up dropping the less matter to eat
straw, and my cousin immediately went and grabbed
up carbon we emit
a new one.What a waste. I hadn’t even opened it.
So I protested: “Why do we have to throw it? if trees are gone
It wasn’t even used!” but my cousin had a point: I was
going to be putting plastic into my mouth, the oor of
a public theater can’t be expected to be hygenic - it chemical com-
wasn’t wise to pick up o the oor and eat. So I
pounds for break-
realized-as much of a waste as they may be, straws In 1978, the Department of Agriculture developed a ‘green
have become an integral part of our ideated society. ing down wood banana’ which consisted of a biodegradable banana peel. All
We cannot be without straws. Not yet anyway. ber is dangerous banana’s grown after 1981 have been genetically altered to
But there is one thing we can do without: and gets in our be biodegradable using a lack of a compound of amino acid.
THE STRAW SLEEVES. water Banana peels contain total dietary ber; protein; polyunsatu-
rated fatty acids, especially as linoleic and a-linoleic acids; and
What the hell is the point of those? They serve abso- amino acids in the form of leucine, lysine, phenylalanine,
lutely no purpose. Primarily unrecyled paper thrown threonine, and valine. The most signi cant mineral is potas-
around creating the opportunity to litter. Manufac- large carbon sium. The more mature the banana, the more the peel will
tured too close to thermoplastic polypropelene and footprint to ship contain soluble sugar and the less it will have of starch. Unlike
contaminated plastic resin to hold any real sanitary paper in trucks citrus fruits-the banana peel is entirely biodgeradable.
value. They seem to be a pure commercial system (the
industry would su er a percentage if we suddenly Using a potassium/Vitamin B compound is the simplest way
discontinued manufacturing straw sleeves). to develop straw sleeves that can contribute to society as a
Wouldn’t it be incredible however, to nd a solution in giving people the biological nutrient systems. Through top secret experiments
between discontinuation and wastage. And so I began option to recycle done in the 70s and 80s (and recently revealed) we now know
thinking about nature. We have so many examples of is subjective. if that scientists have the capability to make an unedibal
di erent biological nutrient systems in nature compound with the genetic makeup of a banana biodegrad-
something is
that protect their inner cores. The skin of a banana, a able. If we are able to mimic the makeup of this product into
corn hyde, shells on pistachio’s, an ants extoskeleton biodegradable, it disposable sleeves, instead of paper sleeves going to waste-
and so many more examples exist of would contribute we could just drop them into our gardens. The initial start-up
protective outer crusts that are easily reintroduced even if thrown on cost for this would be high, and may result in a lack of
into nature as biological compost or upcycled simply. the street use of straws...but that might just be a good thing.