Is this the ‘FinalStraw’ to our sipping challenges?
By Anthony Caggiano
The UK is preparing for a ban on plastic straws from 2020 in a bid to protect rivers and seas from waste.
Consumers and suppliers are looking for more environmentally friendly ‘straw-ternatives’, as reported by Materials World in July (click here). Paper straws have gained support from companies including McDonald’s, and wheat straws have also drawn praise.
Metal options are also an option, including this one, named FinalStraw.
The straw is made from four pieces of stainless steel, which are connected by one continuous piece of food grade silicone. When FinalStraw is pulled out of the case, it automatically self deploys.
A specially designed brush has also been made for cleaning the inside. While soap and water are recommended for general cleaning, the product can be sanitised by boiling it for five minutes, and odours can be removed with vinegar and baking soda.
The product is claimed to have a life cycle of 12,000 uses – about two uses a day for 16 years.
Once the product has reached the end of its life, the company says it will take back all old and used products to recycle the materials and/or make sure it is disposed of properly.
On top of that, the case is made from recycled HDPE.
FinalStraw was founded by Emma Cohen, who has a master’s degree from Harvard in Environmental Management and Sustainability.
She spent four years working in waste minimisation at Los Alamos National Laboratories in the Pollution Prevention department before becoming a ‘straw-trepreneur’.
While attending the University of Santa Barbara, Emma and her friends started a non-profit called Save the Mermaids, an environmental education program to educate children on the harmful effects of single-use plastics.
In 2015, Emma did a TEDx Talk on the effects of plastic straws on oceans and environment. Then in 2017, Emma started working on FinalStraw in hopes of creating a convenient, durable alternative to single-use plastic straws.
In April 2018, FinalStraw was launched on Kickstarter, raising US$1.89 million and has gone on to sell more than 250,000 units.
*All images courtesy FinalStraw.
