A new trend of environmental protection, edible straws made from daily ingredients, such as corn starch, cassava starch and spinach, are one of the environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic straws. 

From 2021, non-biodegradable single-use plastic straws are banned in the catering industry in China. Therefore, replacing plastic straws with environmentally friendly straws has become a must.

Eco-friendly straws can be divided into biodegradable straws and reusable straws. Straws can be made from different materials like paper, polylactic acid, stainless steel and plastic. However, things we eat can also be used to make straws.

Corn, wheat, sweet potatoes, spinach, cassava and sesame can be used to make different colored edible straws. "When these straws come to cold drinks, they can hold their shape for over 40 minutes, and they can hold for about 30 minutes in hot water," said the staff of the world's largest drinking straw maker in Yiwu City, east China's Zhejiang Province.

Though they are single-use, they can be boiled and eaten after use. However, some people worry that throwing away edible straws could lead to food waste if people don't want to eat them. The staff said the straws are manufactured according to food safety standards, and restaurants recycle them by giving the used ones to farms as feed, which avoids plastic pollution and food waste.

"We are still working on improving the performance of straws to make them more water-resistant," staff said.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, about 300 million tonnes of plastic waste are produced every year. Researchers estimate that more than 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced since the early 1950s. However, only about 60 percent of that plastic has ended up in either a landfill or the natural environment. What's worse is that regardless of  where it is dumped, in a river, the ocean, or on land, plastic waste can persist in the environment for centuries, which has a severe impact on the ecosystem.

The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued "Opinions on Further Strengthening Plastic Pollution Control" at the beginning of 2020, which calls for a nationwide ban on the use of non-biodegradable disposable plastic tableware, non-biodegradable plastic bags, hotel disposable plastic supplies and express plastic packaging.

(Cover: Edible straws made from corn starch, cassava starch and spinach are among the environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic straws.)

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