One hundred and fifty years ago, if you drank a mint julep with a straw, it was an actual straw, made of ryegrass. Then came the paper straw鈥搕o solve the problem that ryegrass tended to become mushy and ruin a drink鈥揳nd finally, by the 1960s, a plastic straw, a product that Americans now use half a billion of a day.
The plastic straw鈥搖seful for a few minutes before it鈥檚 tossed, often to end up escaping into waterways鈥搃s one of many reasons why some estimate that there may be聽more plastic in the ocean than fish, by volume, in three decades. It鈥檚 inspired聽anti-straw activism. It also inspired designers to come up with a straw as compostable as the original rye, but with the sturdiness of plastic.
Called Lolistraw, it also has a new feature: When you鈥檙e done sipping your drink, you can eat the straw.
鈥淔rom our perspective, the way to get our community involved, and the way to get the world excited about this new innovation is to embrace the fun,鈥� says Chelsea Briganti, one of the cofounders of聽Loliware, a company that began making聽edible cups, with a fruit leather-like texture, in 2015. The straws are made from a new seaweed-based material that鈥檚 more like plastic, but like the cups, can be made with a flavor or with added nutrients; they鈥檙e meant to add a little to the experience of having a cocktail or another drink.
鈥淵ou can imagine drinking your cold-brewed coffee with a vanilla straw or a caramel straw,鈥� Briganti says. 鈥淲e think that will really increase this movement around plastic-free, because we鈥檙e not telling the consumer, hey, you can鈥檛 have your straw. We鈥檙e providing them a solution to the plastic straw crisis while also giving them a fun experience on top of that. It鈥檚 not about the consumer sacrificing anymore, it鈥檚 about the consumer having fun and being sustainable at the same time.鈥�
The company plans to target venues where plastic straws are currently used at highest volumes, such as stadiums, fast-casual restaurants, coffee shops, or juice bars. One version will be clear and look like a plastic straw, while others will be colored and flavored.
It 鈥渞eally feels like plastic,鈥� says cofounder Leigh Ann Tucker. 鈥淚t transforms while you鈥檙e using it to where you can actually bite into it afterward and eat it. But when you first pick it up and put it into your drink, it鈥檚 going to feel like a plastic straw.鈥�
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