#straw discourse

I've been trying all sorts lately (metal, plastic, a few wooden ones) and yeah, none really fit the bill. It kind of became a thing so now I just gravitate to new-looking reusable straws when we are in any store that may reasonably sell such things.

A few days ago, Hubby & I were at Ye Olde Walmart out of desperation (supply chain issues wheee) and I saw these on an end cap and the first thing out of my mouth was "OMG I need to show these to Joy!"

Cue a brief explanation of who you are and welp, into the cart they went. I believe they were $5.99, possibly $6.99, I have since lost the receipt.

May I present for your consideration: The Squeaky Clean Straw

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The big selling factor is you can open them to clean them! The pics were taken a few days ago. I have used one so far (after washing of course). For tea/water/etc, things without...bits? Pulp? It seems to work well! A little bit of that "hmm there's a small crack in my straw" feeling but not unmanageable or frustrating in that you're getting more air than liquid. I haven't yet tried these on stuff like OJ or smoothies, but for basic hydration, they do pretty well! They seem to do alright in hot drinks too.

These are silicon, so not any help for folks allergic I'm afraid, but I was hoping this could maybe be a fit for someone who wants to go reusable but fears the straw won't be clean enough! If you hate getting posts like these & I somehow missed it, my bad & feel free to delete! But if this could help someone out I'd love it if you shared w/ your followers.

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Thank you for the product rec, hopefully, those might be useful to some people. The price is nice too, considering I've seen straws just like this retailing at $20+

It is worth noting that the silicone used in these types of straws is not immune to biofilm build-up over time as the silicone starts to degrade, so it might not be suitable for those with severely decreased immune systems. (Plus dexterity issues. Holding them open to scrub can sometimes be tricky!)

I really wish I could get silicone straws to work for me because I feel like my immune system is in a better place to deal with any potential risks (it certainly wasn't this time two years ago). But for some reason, I still choke while using them. I think they're just too soft/require me to do something different that my jaw/tongue muscles can't handle. Very frustrating, but it is what it is, I'm afraid.

As per usual, this post is not an invitation for people to "solve" my need to use flexible plastic straws to drink fluids without aspirating. Nor is it an invitation to debate the validity of needing plastic straws to accommodate disabilities.

If you're curious about this subject and would like to know more, I'm going to ask that you watch this video from @jessicaoutofthecloset which explains it really well.

Thank you in advance, and please know if you try to start a debate with me over this, I will block you. Both because I don't want to debate my right to live as a disabled person vs your eco-activism, but also to keep you from getting annihilated in the comments.