For most green families, plastic is one of those items that is on its way “out”. We are constantly examining how we can choose products that involve bringing less plastic into lives. Why? Because plastic lasts forever! It doesn’t biodegrade so at best we can only hope to recycle it into something else useful but with the staggering amount that makes its way into the modern home, we know much of it ends up in the landfill instead. Much of that plastic is unnecessary too. Do we really need that plastic film to cover magazines that come in the mail? Do we really need plastic drink straws when we could just drink out of the cup? NO.
Of course this week my family has been trying a straw alternative, which has been very nice. We still have some plastic straws that came with various reusable bottles but haven’t bought plastic straws in a store for a very long time and kids loves straws. I find they make drinking green smoothies just a bit more fun when you use a straw… So we gave some glass straws a try. We got these from an awesome company called Strawsome. They have beautiful glass straws that make you feel like you are drinking out of a sculpture rather a straw but a straw they are and the kids really liked them.
We wanted to use glass as opposed to stainless steel because being able to see through the straw and make sure it is clean is VERY important to me. My kids aren’t good at making sure their cups/straws are rinsed out. Oh an please ignore that Ziploc baggie in the pic below, LOL. I still haven’t found a good solution to replace those and I have been freezing local produce quite a bit lately.
We made a green smoothie with 2 big leaves of Swiss Chard, a couple handfuls of frozen strawberries, some frozen peaches, and a frozen banana. I also added some Vita-Mineral Green.
My son made the smoothie for us… something he LOVES to do and it was pretty tasty.
After blending everything together I poured my two boys some smoothie. The youngest was kind of baffled by this straw thingy in his glass. But he caught on fast and the lure of the nifty straw kept him there until it was all gone. Usually he will make his smoothie last for a couple hours while he plays. He liked the decorations on the straw and well, he is three… he just plain likes drinking out of a straw.
My youngest used the regular size straw and it worked very well for his thick smoothie. My oldest used the bigger “smoothie” size straw.
He too was fascinated with the decorations on the straw. The size and the unique decorations will help them to identify their own straws.
I found they were not hard to clean but I cleaned them right away. Strawesome does have special cleaning brushes for the straws though. They also have bent straws that look pretty cool, but IMO maybe slightly harder to clean.
Many of you may wonder about breakage and I can tell you I haven’t been very “careful” with them on purpose. I needed to see of looking at them crossly would result in breakage. Who the heck wants to imagine broken glass in their kids mouth? Not me that’s for sure! I have used the straws myself and crunched down on them with my teeth. I suppose I could break them but it be deliberate pressure, not accidental. If you have a kid who likes to chew on straws then maybe these wouldn’t be for you. But I have a chewer in my oldest and he doesn’t chew on these. Even so I have been watchful. These are for use at the kitchen table in our house… not for use in the bedroom while playing video games. I also store these with all our glass cups and tumblers and no breakage so far. They are pretty sturdy.
Fabulous post, Tiffany! Your smoothie pics are so very similar to a recent green smoothie post I just posted last week, right down to my homegrown chard sticking out of my Blendtec :)
We have glass straws from Glass Dharma that we use daily and love. They are easy to clean, and very nice thick glass with an unlimited lifetime warranty against breakage. Your straws are a lot like mine but yours have more dots. Very nice!
We have stainless steel straws too, and I rarely use them. they are so hard to clean! They are bendy straws and not see through, very hard to see what is lurking inside. I do not recommend :)
Great post, adorable kids, and I love that your son is the smoothie-maker in your house. I have several little smoothie-makers over here too…too cute!
I LOVE the jack & jill set of two for my two green kiddos!
These look so neat! I’ve put off the straw switch because I was worried about keeping the stainless steel straws clean! These are perfect! Do yu have to be super careful with them or are they pretty tuff?
I love the Jack and Jill set!
Cool straws! They would indeed be helpful with the green smoothies we make at home.
I must say I do love the bent straws. I think I need at least 8 of these. 2 per family member. Thanks for the post. As always I love the site.
The jewel tone smoothie set of four would be perfect for our family (of 4 :) My kids would love drinking their smoothies with these!
I love the decorative glass straws, especially the blue/green ones!
i like the jack and jill set as well.
thanks!
Thought these were awesome. I have never thought about not being able to see if the stainless ones were clean or not. I like the children’s set of four and the Jack and Jill set.
I love the jack and jill set. I see it is popular among those reading the blog :)
Ah! Right when I think I may have a problem, you go and blog a fabulous solution! *bows* DH recently bought our 3 yr old a cheap set of those plastic “whistling” straws and I was so mad! (We are newbies on the Green block, with him learning from me and I learning from you and other wonderful resources) I thought of stainless steel but always hated not knowing how clean they are. Ooh, these are pretty! They seem pretty sturdy! Love the Jewel Tone Set!
I blogged about your great post on my blog http://5sillyfrogs.blogspot.com/ I hope everyday more and more people choose to be green.
I see the concern about bent straws being a more difficult to clean, but we like bent straws enough to give it a try.
This sounds like a fabulous idea! I too only use straws for smoothies, but they do seem to go down better with one. I’ll keep my fingers crossed!
The XL Blue and Orange looks promising.
What’s the vita green you mentioned?
I love the little straws. They would be perfect for my little one’s small glasses. Thanks for all the research you do.
Tricia
Love these!!
I went and checked out their site… Love the Summer Smoothie Straw but they all are so cute.
I’d love to try one! Thanks for the giveaway.
Robin
cokelush at gmail
mark-it-with-a-b.blogspot.com
live-whole-food.blogspot.com
WOW!! These glass straws are such a great idea. I hate just thinking about all the many straws that go into our landfills. Glass straws are definitely the way to go. I checked out their website and really like the Orange Purple Swirls, Green Dots straws that bend.
I would have a really hard deciding- I really liked them all! I like the plain ones as much as the embellished ones… I am adding these to my wishlist!
They are beautiful! I had seen glass straws before, but not this decorative, I love them! So many of them, it would be hard to choose. I liked the Red family set of 4 or the children’s set of 4 smoothie straws. I am so posting about these on my blog, . http://www.purplefrog-purple.blogspot.com
They are to awsome not to talk about!
I guess I’m the paranoid one of the bunch – but the glass straw is just too much for my imagination. It might be because I was the kid that did actually bite the glass thermometer in half when I was five – much to the doctor’s surprise – who, incidentally, was sitting right in front of me holding the thermometer in my mouth when I did it. I’m also the one, who as an adult nearly downed a collection of glass shards that had broken off the INSIDE of a drinking bottle. It was dumb luck that I happened to even notice they were there before downing the last bit of liquid. Needless to say, I will now forever inspect the bottom of a glass bottles before I take a drink. So, when it comes to sucking liquid through a glass straw… I think it leave little opportunity to even notice – let alone react should there be any defect or damage on the inside of the tube… and glass is glass. I’ve switched out all my plastic food containers for glass… but when it comes to straws I think the expose to toxins of food traveling through the straw is definitely the lower risk option. MHO.
I just stumbled onto your site – all new to me, but fabulous to find the “fun” alternative. I love the jewel set of 4, but my husband is over my shoulder pointing and saying “the big smoothie ones, the big smoothie ones!”
Very cool straws! The glass straws are such a wonderful idea. I always have people over and it would be lovely to have decorative straws for their drinks! I really love that they have smoothie straws too! I hate when you order a smoothie or milkshake while out and they give you a small straw! You can’t get anything through it!
Oh and isn’t the Vita-mix the best?! I just got one this past fall and I can’t imagine not having one anymore! I make my protein smoothie everyday in it… and about once or twice a month, I make a huge batch of soup and individually “cup” it and freeze it for lunch.
I love the Mild (Not Wild) set – so pretty and I love the idea of not using plastic straws any more! Thanks for the info!
Just posted this on my Facebook profile. Love it!
What a neat idea! We would love to try out one of these.
i love the Jewel Tone Smoothie Set of 4. it will be perfect for our family of 4 who drinks smoothies (and getting into green ones as well) on a daily basis.
Super cool!! I’m really liking the Bent straws.
We fix smoothies like you do all the time……so, using a straw is so much easier for my tots….and I know they would love these!
These would be perfect for us. I have sensitive teeth and have to use a straw. It kills me to keep buying plastic straws and toss them out. I found acrylic straws at crate and barrel but these would be so much better. So expensive though! I really like the decorative straws so you can ID which straw is yours. NEAT>
Great straws! I like the blue/green bent ones. Thanks
I too have been putting off the switch to glass straws thinking they’d be a hassle to clean or broken within a week. But if another mom says those aren’t a problem, then maybe I can be convinced to give them a try. They are definitely lovely. The jewel-toned smoothie set is probably the one I’d buy if I end up getting some. Maybe I can leak word out to family that this is on my present wish list… :)
p.s. Whoa! I just saw on their site that they have a life-time guarantee, so if they break, you just pay shipping to get them replaced. Wow — that’s great!
The glass straws look awesome! Thanks for the information. We love to make green smoothies. The straws would make them even greener!
Of course my family of 5 loves the Party Time Set of 6 Smoothie straws (which I think is the most expensive item on the site!) – they are beautiful straws!! Great idea, too. It says they have a lifetime guarantee against breakage which gives me a good feeling that they will not break easily. Thanks for the great link! :)
P.S. – To all the ‘Jack and Jill’ fans – the website says there is only one of this set left in stock – must be very popular!! Get it while it lasts!! :)
Fabulous!! Thank you for this find. I love the teal appeal. These are going on the for family Christmas lists :)
Love the jewel tone smoothie set:)
We just got the Glass Dharma smoothie straws and my kids LOVE them! I like the different designs Strawesome offers, and what a cool name!
I like the look of the straws – we will be investing in glass or stainless ones soon. I loved your vagabond article – it is something our family would love to do as well
Posting about the straws on my site… http://www.sandersmemoirs.blogspot.com. Will be hyperlinking back to you.
Thanks a bunch.
Posting about the straws on my site… http://www.sandersmemoirs.blogspot.com. Will be hyperlinking back to you.
Thanks a bunch.
I like the blue/green 8″ bent.
I love the bent straws on the website! Really great product!
Fun post! We are making lots of smoothies too. The bent straw looks really fun (though like another post mentioned, I bet they are hard to clean). I never thought of glass straws – what a fabulous idea! Thanks for the great giveaway.
I am so happy to have found you! I look forward to your newsletters. There is always something of interest I find to send to others.
Love the Jack and Jill straws. Would love to win one and buy the other! :)
What a great product!! I think my kids would like the Blue Swirl Medium Blue Dots. Very cute!
Tiffany – I am always looking for new ideas to incorporate more “green” stuff in my children’s lives. They love drinking with straws and I found some plastic ones–but they can still bite them and ruin them. I have been wanting to try some glass straws and I like the idea of different colors and designs–because kids like having their own stuff. What a great giveaway.
Sometimes others (my mother) make me feel like I am depriving my children by not buying disposible items (like straws) but I know the message is getting through when my daughter (4) wants to pick up litter because it makes her sad to see the earth trashed. Glass straws would be great!
These are awesome! And made right here in the US! We would love the summer smoothie straw. I am going to order some regardless if I win or not. I think these will also be an easy X-mas gift for this year. Each year I try to give my college aged nieces something to help “green” up their world. Last year they all got reusable grocery bags filled w/ healthy foods. Thanks Tiffany for the great website!
I love that they have bent straws! Having different designs on them so that each kid can recognize their own is a great idea.
I had never thought of glass straws before, but that’s awesome!
I like the Baby See-Thru Smoothie Straw. Fabulous website!
great straws! thanks so much for the info! truth be told – i miss drinking out of straws more than the kids…there are certain things i just like to drink out of a straw – and i also miss being able to keep acidic liquids away from our teeth enamel! i like the baby see-thru straws the best – but i am a fan of basic things! the decorated ones are cute but i can see fights breaking out over who gets what design, etc…these are fabulous!
This sounds way too cool and very eco-friendly. Although I will have to keep an eye on my kids while they are drinking with these glass straws, I will be using them myself just to enjoy them, should I win one! The jewel-tone smoothie set caught my eye! I wish they sold them in bulk though! I cannot say how my husband gives me the eye when he sees me recycling even the plastic straws and other tiny plastic pieces that he thinks belongs in the regular trash! Fingers crossed, hope I win one so that I can get him to try it! Great article, very informing. Makes me realize how many straws we actually do go through (shame on us and the fast food industry!). Time to make some more changes…
I have been looking for glass straws. I will definately buy one. I like the orange purple swirl. Great site!
Ohhhh how neat! We don’t use many straws in my household, but when we do these would be handy! My only issue with them is storage. We are a little messy, and I feel like they would get smashed somehow.
Oh, and I checked out their website…kinda pricey! I don’t think I could justify that expense, even though they are amazing!
Neat! I was just looking at some stainless steel straws and hadn’t thought about not being able to see inside if they were clean or not. I’m glad to hear the glass straws don’t have to be babied.
I think I’d have to pass on giving my 21 month old a glass straw for now as he chews on plastic straws but I’m pondering getting a pair of glass straws for my husband and I.
Thank you for the review and I’ll be crossing my fingers for the glass straw giveaway ;)
How neat! I like the Jack and Jill set!!!
I really like the children’s set… all of them are neat. The decorations on many of them remind me of planets. :) My kids LOVE drinking from straws and although I avoid buying plastic, I finally broke down and bought them a box because I felt like I was depriving them. I had no idea there were plastic (or stainless) straws out there!
I also use plastic for freezing and wish I had a better answer. I used glass jars for a while, but I found it hard to get the food back out if I didn’t leave enough time to thaw fully before cooking time, plus I had several jars break.
Oh, while I’m commenting, THANK YOU for the reviews on the Maryjane Butters books a while back! I checked them out from the library and they’ve got me spending more time outdoors this summer, even just for little domestic tasks like chopping dinner veggies at the picnic table instead of in the kitchen.
Love this idea! I think you’re right about the bent straws being harder to clean! I love the children’s set of 4 in jewel tones. My girls would love those. Very fancy for a straw.
I have seen these once before and think they are wonderful. A great gift idea as well. I do not yet have one as they seem like an “extra” but I know my daughter would love it. I like the teal appeal.
I posted in on twitter as well @javasnickers
The jewel-tone smoothie set of four caught my eye – I have a daughter who loves to have a choice :)
Hey Tiffany,
Love the bent straws, they would be a perfect breastfeeding companion!
-Sarah
I’ve been wanting to try out a glass straw as I *love* straws and hate the plastic waste like you mentioned. My favorite is the summer smoothie, even though I don’t necessarily need a smoothie straw. I have checked out another website that sells glass straws, but these look really neat; I may have to justify the cost for a few soon!
Love the glass straws! I have been trying to stay away from plastics as much as I can. Any information or products to help keep our children safe, is wonderful!
Tempted to try these–glass?? Anxious to see them in person!
I have been wondering about glass straws. The strawsome site was easy to use and very straight forward with all necessary information. I love the sets of smoothie straws. Buying those will work for most everything, instead of having to buy more than one set. Now I just need to convince my husband about the price!! ;)
Those are nice! My favorite is the children’s set. My kids would love those.
The winner is commenter #10 Emily. Congrats!!