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The most recent trend in environmentalism has been a number of companies and communities enacting bans on plastic straws because of the waste that they represent. Many of these bans are rooted in the unfounded statistic that Americans use about 500 million plastic straws per day. Though widely repeated, this number comes from a study done by a 9 year old child for a school project. You can read the New York Times report on the study here.
Protecting the environment is critically important. Yet as we strive to clean up our planet we must choose our targets thoughtfully. Many of us living with disabilities rely on the ready availability of plastic straws to drink and nourish ourselves. I take it for granted that whenever I go to a restaurant or bar that straws will be available if I am served in a glass that is too heavy or too short to drink from. For me this includes most, but not all glasses and varies from day to day. For many people with disabilities drinking from a glass without a straw is never a possibility.
The disability community has responded with quick and insightful activism to the straw bans. For more in depth information you can read media coverage here, and read a comprehensive essay from a personal perspective here.
For those of us with disabilities there are very few accessibility tools as common and as fundamentally necessary for our day to day survival as plastic straws. We must speak up in our communities and in the businesses we visit to protect our access to these vital tools.
Christian McMahon, Communications Specialist, The Arc of California