EARTH — Municipalities around the world are increasingly cracking down on plastic pollution, especially single-use straws. <br /><br />According to the National Park Services, Americans use about 500 million straws a day which works out to 1.5 straws a person every 24 hours, according to the Tampa Bay Times. <br /><br />In the U.K., 8.5 billion plastic straws are used each year, according to the Telegraph. <br /><br />Straws are difficult to recycle and usually end up in landfills or being incinerated, but they are increasingly clogging up waterways as well. <br /><br />Cities worldwide are increasingly discouraging the use of straws with some even outright banning them. Others have vowed to phase out plastics over the next decades. <br />Plastic straw alternatives have also started to gain in popularity. They are made from materials like bamboo, metal, glass, paper, potato or corn paste.
