My head is not in the sand and I whole heartedly agree that we need to reduce debris that escapes into the ocean. My beef is with targeting straws. I happen to like having a straw to stir my frozen drink when it sits for a bit and starts to separate. I like my straw when I have a fountain drink in my car and there is a lid on the beverage so it wont spill. I like having a straw when my mouth may be dirty from working outside and I don't want to contaminate a glass. I happen to like my straw when I share a drink and my wife and I use 2 different ones. I like my straw when I need to blow sand out of a crevice using directed air. I like my straw when I need to let air out of a pool float.

I don't like when government tells me I cannot get a straw - when banning them will have no measurable impact on the problem. I throw away more plastic in a meal in the form of the plate, fork, knife and spoon. Why not ban all plastic utensils to include straws? That makes more sense -- yet there certainly would be a public outcry. *Geeze, have to carry our own utensils when eating out at the beach* Common sense should prevail -- not emotional, feel good government responses (see turtle above).