Thought for the Day – Straws?
Plastic straws contain toxins such as bisphenol-A (BPA).
Kizmet in Ubud uses metal straws.
Plastic straws can’t be recycled; they won’t breakdown to compost the land; the plastic just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces.
Down To Earth Bali uses papaya stem straws.
Do you really need to use a plastic straw?
Sari Organic in the rice fields of Ubud uses bamboo straws.
Plastic straw litter in Ubud. 😦
 It’s likely that straws dropped on the road in Ubud will end up in the gutters and be washed out to the beaches and into the ocean.
A “Trash Talker” and co-owner of Bali Recycling, Oliver Pouillon asks, “Have we really forgotten how to drink from glasses?”
Notice Olivier requested, “No straw,” for his drink.
For more about Oliver and his work, go to: <http://jmnicol.wordpress.com/2013/09/30/inspiring-person-oliver-pouillon/> by blogger Janet Nicol, founder of Bali Inspired magazine.
Options are available if you do want a straw. Glass straws, for instance, come in lots of colors, are toxic free, and can be easily cleaned. Go to <www.imagineBali.org> to buy glass straws and to help “The Last Straw Campaign” on Bali.
Bali is a small island, so what to do with plastic that can’t be reused is more obviously a problem than perhaps in other places. But wherever you are, you can help reduce plastic pollution.
Everything matters. Please make conscious choices – even with straws.
Aloha, Renée
P.S. If you are here in Ubud this Saturday, April 5, come join The Big Ubud Cleanup. Meet at 9 a.m. on Jalan Gootama #13 – the new Soma’s. You’ll be able to pick up litter (including lots of plastic straws) for a couple of hours, meet good people, and then hear great music – organized by Human Ruben. For more information about the monthly cleanup, join the FB group.
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