Last week the Trump reelection campaign announced they were selling plastic straws with Trump’s name laser engraved on them

The straws sell $15 for 10 and take roughly two weeks to arrive with shipping

President Donald Trump said on Friday he believed there are bigger problems than plastic straws

Around the world people are making moves to decrease the amount of plastic polluting the planet by banning the use of plastic straws. Meanwhile, the Trump reelection campaign has decided to do the opposite by selling plastic Trump straws for the 2020 elections.

Be Straw Free

Plastic straws may be a bigger problem than Trump’s reelection campaign understands. Americans use over 500 million drinking straws daily. This data comes from a campaign to ban plastic straws started by Milo Cress. Cress started “Be Straw Free” in 2011 when he was only 9-years-old to raise awareness about plastic straws. Last year, 16-year-old Cress found himself at the center of a movement to ban plastic straws accepted by global companies such as Starbucks and McDonald’s who plan on phasing plastic straws out by 2020.

“Sea Turtle With Straw Up Its Nostril”

A big push against plastic straws came in 2015 after Christine Figgener, a marine biologist at Texas A&M University, recorded a viral video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up his nostril. On YouTube, the original video titled “Sea Turtle with Straw up its Nostril – “NO” TO PLASTIC STRAWS” has racked up over 36 million views since it was uploaded. Initially Figgener believed it was a worm, but she and her colleagues were shocked when they realized it was a plastic straw lodged in the nose of the 77 pound turtle. Her and her team made the shocking discovery while collecting data on sea turtle mating off the coast of Costa Rica. Figgener and her team spent nearly ten minutes removing the four inch plastic straw from the sea turtle’s nose.

Plastic Bans Around The World

Around the world, changes are being made to cut back on the use of plastic. Last year Vancouver was the first major Canadian city to approve a plastic straw ban. Taiwan plans to ban all single-use plastic items by 2030. According to Fast Company, in the U.K., Queen Elizabeth II banned plastic straws and bottles from “all royal estates, cafes, and gift shops and Prime Minister Theresa May announced a Britain-wide ban on the sale of plastic straws, stirrers, and plastic cotton swabs.”

In 2013, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper decreed July 11 as “Straw Free Day.” Following the pleas of Shelby O’Neil — a 16-year-old Girl Scout — Alaska Airlines agreed to eliminate single-use plastic straws. The national food service company Bon Appétit announced last year announced they were getting rid of plastic straws at over 1,000 location across 33 states. In 2018, Seattle placed a ban on single-use plastic straws and utensils and in California you must request a straw instead of having one automatically brought to you. A growing list of cities are pushing towards a more environmentally friendly approach towards unnecessary plastic use. Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has decided to sell plastic straws, because why not?

Make Straws Great Again

Last week the Trump campaign announced they would be selling plastic straws with Trump’s name laser engraved on them. Following the announcement, President Donald Trump stated “we have bigger problems than plastic straws” as he departed the White House for New Jersey.

I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws. You have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers and everything else that are much bigger and they’re made of the same material? Everybody focuses on the straws. There’s a lot of other things to focus, but it’s an interesting question. President Donald Trump

The reusable and recyclable plastic straws are for sale on the online reelection campaign store. The straws are selling for $15 for a pack of 10. You can expect a roughly two week wait for shipping. Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale announced the sale of the straws in an email titled “Make Straws Great Again.”

I’m so over paper straws, and I’m sure you are too. Much like most liberal ideas, paper straws don’t work and they fall apart instantly. That’s why we just launched our latest product – Official Trump Straws,” Parscale wrote late Friday. Now you can finally be free from liberal paper straws that fall apart within minutes and ruin your drink. Brad Parscale Via Make Straws Great Again Email

Parscale’s sales pitch was a stab at the more environmentally friendly paper straw alternative that have received more than a fair share of critics due to their inability to remain in tact for reasonable periods of time. Parscale also tweeted a picture of a paper straw falling apart and claimed the same would happen to the economy if liberals were in control.