Banning plastic straws and plastic bags are justified to as part of a solution to plastic in the oceans and reduction of landfill. Even advocates admit that these regulations will not solve the ocean problem. Straw bans are intended as a gateway plastic to encourage the movement to biodegradable trash.

Many people with disabilities need straws to consume foods and beverages.

In 2015, researchers found the world has 275 million metric tons of plastic waste in one year and 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons get into the oceans.

Straws are only 0.03% of plastics that enter the oceans in a given year.

People with neuromuscular disabilities and Down's syndrome will be put at greater health risks by not having easy access to plastic straws.

Ocean Cleanup Technology can remove half the ocean plastic in 5 years

Cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch using conventional methods – vessels and nets – would take thousands of years and tens of billions of dollars to complete. Our passive systems are estimated to remove half the Great Pacific Garbage patch in just five years, and at a fraction of the cost.

Ocean cleanup technology creates an artificial coastline. The Ocean cleanup system consists of a 600-meter-long floater that sits at the surface of the water and a tapered 3-meter-deep skirt attached below. The floater provides buoyancy to the system and prevents plastic from flowing over it, while the skirt stops debris from escaping underneath.

Both the plastic and system are being carried by the current. However, wind and waves propel only the system, as the floater sits just above the water surface, while the plastic is primarily just beneath it. The system thus moves faster than the plastic, allowing the plastic to be captured