Fighting Plastic With Grass: One Straw At A Time

Dear readers, I solemnly ask, “You sweat, right?”

You know, those little drops of waste, salty-water escaping through the microscopic pores of your conditioned and lotioned tan-skin?

To quench your thirst, you ogle the urban scapes for a store-front refrigerator – so which would you choose? How about bottled water? A can of Coca-Cola? (Heck, why not just buy both?!)

You untwist the cap – you crowbar the can – and seconds later you’ve chugged it down. What’s left is a hollow vessel of what was a tasty ‘pick-me-up’.

You’re now vitalised and ready to take on the world!

“So where’s that trash can?” (Crickets chirping and dust balls twirl … there’s still no bin in sight!)

It’s a villainous thing to do, but you don’t want to hold on to dead-weight, you quickly discard it into the drain. (No harm done, right?)

But think of it this way … In a microcosm-scale, if all moral-sense of throwing your rubbish into a trash-can was gone, we would be sailing in oceans of waste.

With such a horrid dystopia right ahead of us, there are some that stand in the face of our waste-destruction, in this case – creating grass-made biodegradable drinking straws.

(Video courtesy of VnExpress International)

Tran Minh Tien, a Vietnamese Green-Fighter, isn’t just stepping up and saying no while pointing fingers, he’s begun manufacturing straws made completely out of grass. (Yes! Those green things on the ground!)

The grass’s scientific name, ‘Lepironia Articulata’, is a more-than-common sprout in Vietnam’s district of Mekong Delta, where Tran Minh’s based at.

In an interview with the inventor himself, Tran explains how he collects the hollow stems of the grass, then washing and cutting his finds.

After the process of separating and cleaning them, he uses a metal rod to hollow out the innards of the grass.

The final product, now ready to be sold, is wrapped up in banana leaves, which is also biodegradable.

Click on the photo to read Neue’s past article – “Plastic, Be Gone! Here Are 5 Eco-Friendly Alternatives”

Upon visiting Tran’s website, you will be able to order and purchase the straws with different variations, 1 which is fresh (shelf-life 1 week) and a dried-batch which lasts up to 6 months.

On the website, Tran provides advice on his green-straws and how it’s good for Mother Earth.

(Courtesy of Ong Hut Co)

“The product is wrapped in banana leaves, bundled with 100 tubes, when you buy it, put it all in a nylon zip bag and put it in the refrigerator compartment.

“The suction tube can be stored in a cool compartment for up to two weeks. If you do not use it all, boil light salt water and then dry it for longer use.

“Grass straws are designed to be used once in every restaurant.

“For individuals who buy, you can try to re-use grass straws many times.

“After each use, it can be cleaned with salt water and drained into a cool compartment. The manufacturer believes that you should not throw away this straw after 1 time of use.”

There are a multitude of different types of eco-friendly and biodegradable straws, let alone, different cutleries for mass-consumption.

In Brunei, there are local start-ups that have begun incorporating greener methods of production and tools, one of them being Nur Hafizah Binti Abdul Harith, and her ‘Straw Wars Brunei’ campaign to fight the use of plastic straws.

Let’s hold hands or hold biodegradable straws together for a better, greener future!

Isn’t it time for you to ditch single-use plastic straws for good?