Do Straw Lives Matter?: A Think Piece

Huffington Post – I am a proud disabled woman who was born with arthrogryposis, a physical disability that affects my arms and legs. I am also deeply committed to protecting the environment.

These two priorities ? disability rights and environmental protection ? have long been compatible. However, as the movement to ban plastic straws intensifies, I find myself increasingly wondering which is more important: disability rights or the environment?

I fully acknowledge humans are destroying the planet, and it worries me. The Trump administration continues implementing policies that are devastating to the environment, and it is incumbent on all of us to do as much as we can to save the earth.

But at what cost? Is saving the planet more important than ensuring that people like me can drink ? something that is vital to living? Are the two mutually exclusive?

I have used plastic straws my entire life because I cannot pick up a cup. Without straws, I am unable to drink anything independently. Straws may be a luxury for some people, but for me, they are a necessity.

Let’s get right into it. Our pal Robyn Powell deserves a loud “hell yeah” for this essay. I don’t really know how she typed it given the circumstances but that’s neither here nor there. It took guts to go after such a huge, influential establishment like the “Big Straw” industry. This woman asks a question that many are too afraid to even think: Can you be an environmentalist and also a straw user simultaneously? Why do we have to choose between the environment and straws? What side am I on?

Honestly my mind has been racing since I read this shit. I tried to run and hide from it but I found myself reading it over and over again anyway. I genuinely believe this woman wants to save the environment and also use straws, because as she mentioned once or twice, she needs straws to drink independently.

This is what happens when millennials get ahold of an idea and run around whining without thinking about the ramifications. Hey assholes, straws were invented for a reason! Have you ever tried drinking an iced coffee without a straw while you’re driving somewhere? It’s a disaster waiting to happen.

The ball’s in your court now, @PETA. You guys and all the other hippies who are fighting this fight. I get that Robyn Powell’s whole point is that she’s also an environmentalist who simply cannot function without straws, but I’m gonna take it a step further here and say if you support banning straws you don’t support disabled rights. If you think plastic straws should be banned from New York City, you’re basically saying you don’t think disabled people have the right to drink. Your words, not mine.

I say straws for everyone. Straws make drinking things infinitely easier and if you believe Americans have a right to bear arms, you should also believe we have the right to bear straws. Big, bendy, plastic, bear straws. The ones with the different colored stripes down the side. This is for Robyn Powell. Let’s drink.