Reduce waste. Drink a beer.

Re “It’s time to go strawless,” editorial, Jan. 16

The first thing in the Los Angeles Times’ editorial that caught my eye was the 500 million straws allegedly discarded by Americans per day. I’m sure the hearts of the conservationists who made this estimate are in the right place, but that equals two straws for every man, woman and child in the country per day. That seems high.

But there is a problem with straws, and I have a partial solution: Require every establishment that sells food to also sell beer. Many people would prefer to have their burger or burrito with a beer rather than a soft drink, if only it were available.

The merchants would benefit from the higher prices, the legislators would get to pass a law, and it’s a good bet none of those customers would request straws. It’s a win-win solution.

Art Klimeck

San Pedro

I have occasionally thought about researching the question of when the pernicious practice of putting straws in water glasses began in L.A. restaurants, and why.

When a server brings a glass of water to me that has a plastic cylinder protruding, I always put the straw to the side as unneeded, unwarranted and unwelcome. Finally, I have the support of a major metropolitan newspaper.

Andrew Rubin

Los Angeles

Remember paper straws? So let’s stop using and manufacturing plastic straws, and return to paper straws.

There may be environmental issues with the manufacturing of paper straws — certainly there are issues with the production and disposal of plastic straws — but at least paper straws will disintegrate in the environment faster than the plastic ones.

Jan Rasmussen

Lakewood