Recently, a startup company introduced FinalStraw to the world. It is the first-ever collapsible, reusable straw made out of stainless steel. In comparison to its counterparts, the product's unique selling point is its very own "sexy case" which you can easily attach to your key chain.
The case itself was made from plastic, but the startup company assured that only 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic was used during production. Using metal for the case was out of question, due to the weight and costly price.
Essentially, the purpose of making it collapsible and adding its own case, is so that people won't forget it whenever they go out. By leaving them where the keys are, people are able to bring it with them anywhere, any time.
The package also includes a tiny squeegee to help maintain the cleanliness of the straw. All materials used in creating FinalStraw are BPA-free and the product is dishwasher-safe. It also boasts of its patented design that ensured soft straw-ends, making it safe even for children. In addition, the straw was designed to last a lifetime.
There are also FinalStraw Ambassador Cards provided for every purchase of the straw which the owner could leave at any restaurant or food place that still uses plastic ones. The cards serve as a request, asking these establishments to only serve straw when a customer asks for one. Furthermore, it comes with a lifetime warranty.
Using the website Kickstarter.com, the initial goal of creators, Emma Cohen and Miles Pepper, was to raise 12,500 dollars to fund both the business and the campaign it supports. However, due to great reception by the public, FinalStraw has already gathered 1,894,878 dollars worth of pledges from all over the world.
In an email interview, Cohen said, "The success of our Kickstarter just goes to show that people want reusables, they just need to be convenient and [actually] make sense." She added that the project was 575 percent funded within its first 24 hours in the website.
The whole idea of straws being an environmental hazard started bothering Cohen while she was traveling in Thailand. According to her, she saw countless of straws on the beach and the disturbing sight never left her mind from then on.
FinalStraw materialized years later when she met co-founder Pepper after her talk at a TEDx conference at Los Amos National Laboratory.
Currently, the startup's working on production for all orders made, and the estimated delivery of the products is on November 2018. Now that the project's proven successful, Cohen and Pepper are making it their mission to provide everyone with the "highest quality, socially responsible and coolest reusables possible."
Replacing plastic straws
Single-use plastic straws take about 200 years before they completely break down, and because the human population use 8.5 billion straws a year, the earth is serving as a junkyard for these trash.
In the U.S. alone, 500 million straws are discarded in just one day and they all end up in landfills and/or find their way to different bodies of water. They become microplastics which are very harmful to marine life.
According to the Strawless Ocean Organization, at least 71 percent of seabirds and 30 percent of turtles were found with plastics inside their stomachs. What's sad and alarming at the same time is that these creatures' mortality rate is at 50 percent once they ingest plastic.
The company responsible for FinalStraw has recently teamed-up with the Plastic Pollution Coalition to support their project called The Last Plastic Straw Movement. Aside from this, there are many other non-profit organizations that support the cause that can help you learn more about the issue.
Find out more about the condition of our environment at Enviro.news.
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