The Guilt-free Straw
Germany’s Biopot, made from potato starch, looks and feels like a plastic straw, but is better than one – it’s 100 per cent biodegradable. We will say this: As long as plastic straws exist, most people – not all – will continue to use them. This is despite the fact that we don’t really need plastic straws. And that we know how we’ve turned plastic into an environmental scourge that pollutes our seas, the life in them, and the lives that live off them (according to conservation group For A Strawless Ocean, the oceans will have more plastic than fish in them by 2050). This is all on us, and it is wholly preventable.
That’s why there’s a movement in bars and hotels to make drinks and cocktails that don’t require straws. And if you really need one, you have the options of paper or copper, or Bio-pot straws. Plasticiser- and petroleum-free, the latter are made of natural fibre from potato starch. When they break down, no microparticles are left behind. “Bio-pot can be thrown out with traditional trash or with food waste for composting,” says Rachel Ling of Proof & Co., which distributes and sells the straws. “It breaks down after a maximum of 21 months without any residue and impact to the environment.”
Bars that use it include 28 Hongkong Street, Origin Bar, The Secret Mermaid, Junior The Pocket Bar, Fat Prince, Burnt Ends, Open Farm Community, Spago, Cut, Summerlong, and 1880. So #stopsucking, and call out F&B outlets that still use plastic straws. Because what’s more important than having a great cocktail? Having a great cocktail on a beach that isn’t strewn with straws.
TEXT DAVID FUHRMANN-LIM PHOTOGRAPHY FRENCHESCAR LIM STYLING SHAN