Banning Plastic Straws

by Siena Mj, Juniper FC, and Christopher G

Should people ban straws? People have been contemplating that question for quite some time. Some people think it's good to have plastic straws, and some people think it's bad. In our opinions we think it's definitely not good to have plastic straws because, news flash! You don't need a plastic straw to drink beverages! We wanted to make Lake Bluff a plastic straw free school because it makes less pollution on Earth. For instance, in the library Mrs. Knight showed us how sea turtles are becoming endangered and one of the problems is from plastic straws going in the turtle's noses. They also release harmful toxins that can pollute aquatic ecosystems and ultimately destroy the environment. Lastly, depositing plastic straws into landfills so they can slowly degrade is by no means an environmentally friendly solution. However, the reality is that used plastic straws frequently have a much worse destination: Our oceans.

Next, plastic straws are wasteful! There are about 7.5 million plastic straws in the ocean. Last, you don't even need a plastic straw. When plastic straws enter the ocean, they break down into microplastics. These harmful smaller pieces are ingested by birds and marine wildlife unintentionally, and it's almost impossible to avoid. In fact, a study showed that 100% percent of tested sea turtles had ingested plastic. Jul 24, 2019. So we decided to interview a few staff members.

We want to ban straws forever! Or at least get paper or metal straws. So we talked to Mrs. Harrison.

Christopher: Me, Juniper, and Siena are wondering if you could ban plastic straws.

Mrs Harrison: I'd love to ban plastic straws. They aren’t very necessary and they create a ton of extra waste, but I don’t really have control over that. But I could request that they ban the plastic straws.

Juniper: Is there any way you could get paper straws?

Mrs. Harrison: I could ask the company. But plastic straws are a lot cheaper than paper straws, BUT you could talk to the lunch servers about it, they may be able to help. I think this is a very good idea, and maybe with your help we could ban the straws.

Juniper: Thank you for your time.

So after lunch we asked the lunch people.

Juniper: Siena, Christopher, and me were wondering if you could ban plastic straws.

Siena: Is there anything you can do?

Mr. Thor Gran III (the lunch guy): I think that would be a very good idea! You don't really need them and most kids are using them as toys! Plus they just create so much extra waste. But I don't have much control over the situation. You can make a petition by giving me a lot of signatures that agree to banning them, then maybe my boss will say yes.

Christopher: Okay. We will come back soon with the signatures.

Then we realized we already had to go to the principal office for an interview. So when we got there we explained to Mr. Rogers that we wanted to ban straws and why. This is what he said:

Mr. Rogers (the principal): Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. That is a good Idea but I don’t think that’s possible, but we could put a sign on the straws saying only take one if you need one.

Juniper: Need one?

Principal: Some people need a straw because they have disabilities. Which means in some cases they can’t pick up a cup, so they need a straw.

Juniper: Oh.

Mr. Rogers: Count how many there are before lunch, then after lunch you can count how many there are after lunch to see how many people actually need a straw.

Siena: Okay we’ll tell you if it works. Thank you!

So Siena and I ( I=Juniper) went to the cafeteria to count the straws. When we got there we couldn’t find the straws. So we asked the lunch guy (Mr. Thor Gran III) and he said he banned the straws. He said:

Mr.Thor Gran: I told my boss that it would be bad if we were the reason for so much pollution. Would we really want a huge landfill filled with our trash that usually no one needs? So my boss agreed. Now plastic straws will be banned!

We told Mr. Thor Gran how thankful we are for helping us ban the straws.

We would like to thank Mr. Thor Gran, Mrs. Harrison, Mr. Rogers and anyone who signed the petition for helping save our planet.

Is there something you can do to help the environment? Then Email the Beagle Times for some ideas on how to save our beautiful Earth: lbnews@shorewood.k12.wi.us