Why Western Efforts To Ban Plastic Drinking Straws Are GREAT for Global Prosperity
Yes, most plastic waste in the ocean comes from monsoon flooding of Asian rivers / cities that washes trash out into the ocean. Yes, plastic drinking straws are a trivial percentage of the waste stream. So yes, plastic drinking straw bans will have little effect on cleanliness of the environment.
BUT, this effort does seem to be occupying environmentalists and satisfying millennial needs for social media virtue signalling, all people who have many MUCH worse ideas for "improving" the world. In other words, every day spent by these folks pushing for and preening over this lame plastic straw effort is one less day they can spend pushing for things that would be much more destructive. It's like getting the termites around your yard to focus on easting the dead log in the back rather than eating the rafters in your house.
