Drinking Straw Day today
We’ve all used them from time to time…drinking straws but I bet you didn’t know that the first drinking straws were made out of gold over 3000 years ago? The simple drinking straw has a fascinating history. The first modern drinking straws were invented by Marvin Stone in 1888 who patented a stiffened paper tube for drinking because he disliked the aftertaste of rye straws used until that point. We then had to wait until 1937 when another inventor, Joseph Freidman invented a bendable paper straw after watching his daughter struggle to drink a drink with the rigid type.
In the 1960s the explosion of plastic products began replacing paper drinking straws with plastic ones, which were then discarded into landfill for future generations (ie us) to deal with now.
Other interesting facts about drinking straws include:
- The oldest drinking straw was very expensiveDiscovered in a Sumerian tomb from roughly 3,000 B.C., the straw was made of gold and the precious stone, lapis lazuli.
- Bombilla — the multipurpose straw The Argentines use this special metallic straw to sieve and drink mate tea.
- Straws are in high demand. In the U.S. alone, up to 500 million drinking straws are used every day.
- Plastic straws harm marine life. These straws contribute to plastic debris across the globe and destroy several marine ecosystems.
- Straws recycled into bags. In Uganda, drinking straws are recycled, and the material is woven to make bags.
