One of my newest ventures–beside Microryza (pronounced “Mike” + “Row” + “Rye” + “Zah”), which is a crowd-funding platform for research projects– is a product called: the Hot Straw.

The gist of Hot Straw is this: you cannot drink a straw with a hot drink– why? Because it melts in the liquid from something in the straw called Plasticizers.

Dawn Miracle (it’s her real name, trust me, I asked), Founder and CEO of Hot Straw, first came up with the idea for Hot Straw when working with Parkinson’s patients as a Clinical Researcher, because they DEFINITELY cannot drink hot liquids.

Basically she wanted to help them enjoy hot drinks without spilling or worrying about standard straws melting in the heat, she created a straw that eliminated Plasticizers.

In short: Hot Straw is the first straw designed specifically for use in hot liquids. The key difference is in its ability to withstand the temperature of a hot beverage and not allow plastic to melt into the drink. PLUS, (get this) it’s also BPA free, recyclable, and dishwasher safe.

Awesome.

Another cool about this product goes to the design of Hot Straw. Hot Straw has an oval shape that matches the opening in a to-go coffee lid, meaning the straw doubles as a spill stopper that you can still sip from.

“As a Clinical Researcher, it killed me to know my Parkinson’s patients couldn’t enjoy the coffee they have had their entire life. It’s my job to make their lives more comfortable and they wanted a hot drink, so I found a way to make it happen.” -Dawn Miracle

It was only after she created the straw for her patients that Dawn realized the interest from friends outside her research (this is where I come in).

THRILLED to say that as of last Tuesday Hot Straw has launched at Solsticio Café in Fremont (WA), the first café to sell Hot Straws.

Since Hot Straw was originally created to help Parkinson’s patients, 5% of all proceeds will go to Parkinson’s research!!!

Big talks going on with big names, but as long as the 5% give-back to research is still there– I couldn’t be happier. Or more excited.. =) Stay tuned, I’ll try to find the time to talk about Microryza sometime soon too. If you’re super curious about that, then check out our Tumblr here.

(Source: hotstraw.com)