Hemp Straws - 6 of the Best for Biodegradable Slurping
The last straw for one fellow, figuratively speaking, was the video he saw on the internet of a group of scientists struggling to remove a plastic drinking straw from the nostril of a Ridley sea turtle. That was all it took for this man to become an adamant activist in the campaign to end the use of plastic straws.
Intellectually, we all side with the environmentalists who want to end the multiple environmental hazards of plastic straws. Only, given our long history with plastic straws and the expectation they are there when we need them, how are we supposed to drink our sodas, smoothies, and milkshakes?
Paper straws simply will not suffice. The answer is really quite simple: we need to move away from PLA plastic straws, forget about paper straws, and start using hemp straws.
Hemp straws have many virtues that we can list briefly
- It's not straightforward to correctly dispose of plastic straws. Unlike plastic, hemp is biodegradable. It’s a 100% organic, eco-friendly product that will biodegrade straws completely in about six months.
- Hemp holds up to your drink. It may be that hemp makes biodegradable straws that break down over a few months, but they’re more than adequate for use in the drink of your choice. It won’t collapse like paper straws. In fact, hemp straws can bend and are lightweight, much like their plastic counterparts. This is particularly true when manufacturers have, in effect, used hemp as the raw material to create biodegradable plastic.
- The price of a hemp straw is quite affordable. You can buy a box of 100 for about $20, or about 20¢ a straw.
- Hemp is completely sustainable. As a commonly raised, renewable crop, hemp doesn’t deplete our resources. As more farmers grow hemp, the cost of the many hemp products that will become available—like straws—will only go down.
Hemp is a worthwhile resource, and hemp straws are an eco-friendly, environmentally advantageous idea. Hemp clothing is not new, and these days you can purchase anything from hemp t’s through the distinct Himalayan hemp backpack and super soft hemp socks.
Whereas there are not that many hemp straws on the market as yet, there are a good few starting to crop up. Not least, despite its many benefits, hemp is not always widely accepted as a plastic replacement. We hope to update this list as more innovators switch to this environmentally friendly alternative to plastic.
If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, check out our guide to reusable straws, including glass and steel varieties. Not hemp, but more environmentally friendly than plastic straws.
To demonstrate what that means, here is our list of the 6 best
6 Hemp Straws
1. ExHemplary Life Hemp Straws.
This is the epitome of what a hemp straw is supposed to be about. These straws contain no plastic even though they feel just like a plastic straw. They have no disagreeable flavor to them either, no paper straw blandness or metallic taste. While these straws are biodegradable, they can be used more than once. These straws are compostable. After all, they are made of hemp.
2. The Original Hemp Straw.
This company, Trew Balance, is another hemp straw provider that won the Jack Herer cup for Best New Hemp Product. The Trew Balance folks won it in 2019. These straws are made of US grown hemp, sugar cane, and natural plant resin. Their straws are prized for leaving no residue or plant oil in the cup of those who use their straws. After 80 days, however, they begin to degrade and have completely degraded within a year.
Their straws are reasonably priced, coming in lots of 100, with the price per 100 going down with the number of boxes purchased.
3. Aardvark Straws.
Aardvark sells its products in bundles from 600 straws all the way up to 4800 straws. Some size bundles are available wrapped. Since 2007, Aardvark has been a leading force in providing alternatives to paper straws and plastic drinking straws. They have a number of renewable, sustainable products in addition to their hemp straws. Along with all their other products, their hemp straws biodegrade in 60 days or less.
4. Hemp Straw Company.
Las Vegas, Nevada, is the home of this firm that offers hemp straws in amounts from a box of 50 to a pallet of hundreds of thousands. The Hemp Straw Company is greatly invested in educating the public throughout the nation on the history, potential uses, and legal challenges faced by hemp growers. If you visit their site to order straws, you’re in for a few laughs from this outfit that exudes wisdom and humor.
6. CeeBeeDee Honey Store.
We’ve included an extra, different sort of hemp straw to make a round 6, a sort of bonus for those interested in hemp straws in all their variations. One of the more unusual formulations of hemp straws comes from the CeeBeeDee Honey Store, where honey is infused with hemp and then used to fill straws made from hemp. These straws, unlike most of those we’ve been discussing, are actually containers for honey to which CBD has also been introduced. Like drinking straws, these hemp container straws will keep the enclosed honey in pristine condition for at least six months. Many CBD shops around the nation have begun using hemp straws as containers for other consumables that are infused with CBD, which is a naturally occurring compound in the hemp plant.
Hemp Straw Accessories
Hemp also makes for excellent eco-friendly material. Faster growing and using less water than cotton and less land is a great choice for a huge variety of fabrics. As a bonus addition, here are a couple of accessories that may well grab your attention in your search for hemp based products for a better planet.
Hemp Straw Pocket
This four-pocket blue carry case for your glass or metal straws not only looks the part but it's also padded to protect your precious drinking utensils.
Hemp Mask with Straw Hole
Whereas this practical hemp mask comes complete with a hole for your straw that seals with a magnetic flap. With adjustable neck holder and nose fitting, the seller has received multiple rave reviews. And being hemp, the fabric is soft, easy to wash, and perfect for keeping your mask on while enjoying your choice of beverage.
Hemp Straws Making a Change
Among the interesting discoveries we made in evaluating the various manufacturers and suppliers of hemp straws was that most companies that sell hemp straws are quite interested in educating the public about hemp.
There seems to be a shared desire among hemp straw retailers to appraise the general population about the merits, uses, and history of hemp in our nation. Very few Americans are aware that our money was actually printed on paper made from hemp fiber for a brief period of time in the past.
Along with the yearning to educate our citizens about hemp, there is an equally powerful desire to teach the public about the dangers of plastic, in this case, that form of plastic known as PLA (polylactic acid) that is used in making our ubiquitous soda straws. One supplier of hemp straws has on its Internet landing page a photograph of three straws, with the inscription: “Hemp straws begin to biodegrade in 30 days. Corn straws biodegrade in 80 years. PLA straws never degrade.”
Most sites that offer hemp straw also provide a variety of other products made from hemp as well. These include items like clothing and shoes, hemp plastics to replace petroleum-based plastics, paper, insulation, and biofuel. Another significant use of hemp is the production of CBD.
CBD (cannabidiol) is a chemical compound with many uses. Like the hemp plant where it originates, CBD was illegal for many years throughout the United States. Recently, CBD, like hemp, has undergone a renaissance and is now a legal substance in most American states. The potential uses of this compound and of the hemp plant continue to multiply dramatically. It is estimated that more than 20,000 different household products could be made with hemp—including drinking straws.
