What to Know About the History and Controversy Over Plastic and Paper Straws

President Donald Trump is known to drink many Diet Cokes, but one thing you’re not likely to ever see him using again is a paper straw.

“We’re going back to plastic straws,” Trump announced after signing an Executive Order on Feb. 10 that declared it U.S. policy to end the use of paper straws. “I’ve had [paper straws] many times, and on occasion, they break, they explode,” Trump said. “It’s a ridiculous situation.”

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Trump’s crusade against paper straws is nothing new. His 2020 presidential campaign branded them as “liberal” and sold nearly half a million dollars worth of Trump-branded plastic straws. 

Here’s what to know about the history of—and controversy over—plastic and paper straws.

Why do we need straws at all?

Humans have historically needed assisting tubes to drink—the earliest indications of straw use were found in an ancient Sumerian tomb dating back to 3,000 B.C. 

Straws also play a huge role for people with disabilities. The Center for Disability Rights says those with mobility and strength issues may have difficulty lifting glasses to their mouths, and others may need straws to ingest their medication.

What’s wrong with plastic straws?

Single-use plastics, which are not recyclable, have long been the bane of environmental and public health advocates. 

Some of the earliest campaigns specifically against plastic straws began in 2011, including nine-year-old Milo Cress’ Be Straw Free and Jackie Nuñez’s The Last Plastic Straw. But the anti-plastic straw movement really took off in 2015 after an eight-minute video from marine researchers showed a sea turtle whose nostril was blocked, prompting one of the researchers to have to use a pair of pliers to bloodily pull out the culprit: a plastic straw.

The World Wildlife Fund has warned that straws—and other plastic waste—pose risks to animals if not properly disposed of, with many marine animals mistaking them for food. Plastic pollution has been estimated to kill 100,000 marine mammals yearly, according to the WWF. And nonprofit Ocean Conservancy says it has collected nearly 14 million plastic straws and stirrers on beaches and waterways globally over the last 35 years.

Straws and other single-use plastic items can also disintegrate over time, shedding particles known as microplastics into our water and food, which studies say can cause serious health issues like cancers and respiratory disorders.

In 2017, Entourage star Adrian Grenier’s foundation Lonely Whale launched the Strawless Ocean initiative, which invited the public and celebrities to commit to stopping the use of single-use plastic straws altogether.

How did paper straws come about?

The modern drinking straw was invented by American inventor Marvin C. Stone in 1888, and his patented version was actually made out of paper and wax. As plastic became increasingly cheaper to produce after World War II, the 1960s saw a plastic version produced en masse, according to the National Geographic, with variations such as jumbo and crazy plastic straws booming in the 1980s. The paper straw didn’t regain prominence until plastic straws were pushed aside for environmental concerns.

In July 2018, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to enforce a ban on plastic straws in food service, offering compostable alternatives upon request. Months later, California signed into law a ban on full-service restaurants automatically giving customers plastic straws. Other U.S. cities and states like Oregon and Vermont followed suit with similar laws restricting plastic straw use.

The private sector also pitched in. American Airlines and Alaska Airlines rolled out initiatives in 2018 to phase out plastic straw use, as did Disney and McDonald’s (though the latter admitted that the new paper ones weren’t recyclable). Starbucks removed plastic straws completely from their stores by 2020. 

Outside the U.S., other countries have also made progress in eliminating plastic straw use. In 2018, Vanuatu made history as the first country to ban plastic straws altogether. In July 2021, the European Union banned the sale of certain single-use plastics, including straws, in E.U. markets. China also enacted a plastics ban in 2021 that prohibited restaurants from providing single-use straws.

In 2024, as President Joe Biden’s term drew to a close, his administration announced that the federal government—the world’s largest buyer of consumer goods—would phase out plastic straws and other single-use plastics from federal food services by 2027 and from all federal operations by 2035.

The backlash against paper straws

“They want to ban straws. Has anyone tried those paper straws? They’re not working too good,” Trump said at a 2020 campaign rally, in large part echoing public sentiment.

Even liberals argued against paper straws as early as 2019, raising questions about their efficacy as well as whether they’re actually any better for the environment. A 2020 paper from researchers in Brazil found that plastic drinking straws have “better environmental performance” compared to paper and reusable alternatives, and a U.K. government study said paper straws have greater carbon dioxide emissions when they rot in landfills compared to plastic ones. And a 2023 study published in the journal Food Additives & Contaminants found that “forever chemicals”—also linked to a bevy of health issues—were found in higher amounts in paper straws compared to their plastic counterparts. 

Trump’s executive order

The Trump Administration branded the campaign against plastic straws “irrational” and ordered a reversal of the Biden-era policies regarding their use by the federal government. It directed paper straws to be no longer procured and provided in agency buildings and a National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws to be devised within 45 days that would address the elimination of policies against plastic straws nationwide.

The plastics industry has welcomed the order. “Straws are just the beginning,” said Plastics Industry Association President and CEO Matt Seaholm. “‘Back to Plastic’ is a movement we should all get behind. We appreciate President Trump’s leadership in recognizing the value of plastics and look forward to working with his Administration to advance our industry.”But environmentalists aren’t so happy. “Once again, President Trump is pretending to be a populist while siding with his Big Oil buddies over the public interest,” said Greenpeace USA’s senior plastics campaigner Lisa Ramsden in a statement. Trump’s move headed in the “wrong direction,” Christy Leavitt, U.S. plastics campaign director of non-profit conservation group Oceana, said in a similar statement. “Trump is announcing executive orders that are more about messaging than finding solutions.”

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