Ditch your plastic straws for these stainless steel ones

As plastic straws continue to be banned and eliminated from restaurants and coffee shops, the search for a better and more sustainable alternative has led us to stainless steel.

Vigor Dragon is one of the companies trying to integrate safer and more environmentally products into everyday life. They came up with the idea of creating stainless steel straws after running through the pros and cons of other sustainable materials.

“Glass is a really nice material, but unfortunately not very durable,” Vigor Dragon’s site explains. “Bamboo is a fantastic plant and a very sustainable material. But a drinking straw made of bamboo is unfortunately not suitable for the dishwashers.”

Stainless steel is durable and suitable for the dishwasher. Plus, it won’t get soggy as paper straws do.

Metal straws are certainly better for marine life. Discarded plastic straws contribute to oceanic pollution when they are eaten by fish and entangle with marine animals.

Vigor Dragon posted a video showing how they create their straws. It starts out with equipment cutting long rods of stainless steel to size. Each perfectly trimmed straw is ejected, pushed along a conveyor belt and inspected by a human before going to market.

Those who are able to make the switch to reusable straws should — or give up straws altogether — to protect our oceans. Check out Vigor Dragon’s clip above for a little more insight on where those stainless straws come from!

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