Glass straws are one of my favorite non-plastic alternatives on the market. With the growing concern about the harmful effects of BPA plastic used to manufacture straws and other products, and our ever-growing landfills, non-plastic straws are sounding better and looking it too. These borosilicate glass straws are sleek, clean, long-lasting and landfill friendly. Read more for details...
If you're questioning whether or not you want to put money into straws that you think may break, put aside your reservation. The retailers featured here offer lifetime guarantees for their straws.
Compared with other reusable competitors, borosilicate glass straws have some distinct advantages. Other materials for reusable straws include stainless steel, bamboo and acrylic. The stainless steel straw would be the most durable. However, it doesn't come in the variety of diameters that borosilicate glass does. The bamboo straw may be the most eco-friendly, however, its porous nature and cleaning challenges make it a short-lived option. And finally, the acrylic straw, while long-lasting and reusable, is not made of an eco-friendly material.
Borosilicate glass straws can be used both hot and cold. (Yes, some people like drinking hot beverages with straws!) And it was a shiny, clean, transparent appearance.
At the end of the day, it all has to do with your preferences for functionality and looks. The most important features are reusability and avoiding harmful BPA plastic. If Americans stopped using disposable straws, we would prevent 127 busloads of straws PER DAY from being thrown out (bestrawfree.org).
The 411 on Borosilcate Glass:
• Non-porous and hypo-allergenic.
• Strongest commercially available glass on the market. Both lightweight and strong.
• Used for high-quality beverage glassware and kitchenware (like Pyrex, measuring
cups, coffee pots, etc.).
• Microwave and dishwasher safe.
• BPA plastic and toxin free.
Cleaning Glass Straws:
• Two cleaning brushes are available but not required.
• Submerge straws in soap and very warm water shortly after use.
• If straws dry out before rinsing, use a dishwasher.
• If straws dry out and a dishwasher is not available, use the cleaning brush.
• Find it: Glass Dharma and Strawesome.
(Images: Glass Dharma, Strawesome)
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I looooove my Glass Dharma straws! My favorite part is that I can see that they are clean, which is drawback of stainless steel straws. My straws also have a colored dot on each one, which makes it fun for the kids, but which also means that they cannot roll off and onto the floor.
We have used our straws on an almost daily basis for 8 months (with a 5 & a 7-year old) with no breakage. And, yes, we have dropped them in the sink plenty of times!
i'll be ordering today!
I've been contemplating getting some reusable straws for a while but have had concerns about cleanliness. Good to see positive reviews! I'm going to take another look.
Though, honestly, the real challenge for us is at restaurants, and carrying these around with us everywhere we go seems unlikely. But I suppose a stash in the car could help a little at least.
I, too, have been debating getting some of these for a while now. My concern is the potential for chipped teeth.
Oooh, I love them! Big enough to clean easily, and glass so you can *see* they're clean too.
WOW. This is cool. For anyone concerned about cleanliness, just soak them in soapy, warm water in a clean pan or container. (Not hot enough to shatter the glass, though). Sticky stuff melts with hot water and bacteria have a hard time surviving on a clean glass surface.
And rinse well, obviously. Get all the stuff off it with soap and water.
Isn't Borosilcate glass what they use for tubing in science class? It's nowhere near as fragile when it comes to thermal shock as the normal glass you encounter in, say, your kitchen glasses. :) It's more like a glass beaker, the kind of thing you can throw on top of a burner with no problem.
I have a reusable straw from West Elm. It's stainless. I like this clear glass idea.
"If Americans stopped using disposable straws, we would prevent 127 busloads of straws PER DAY from being thrown out"!
geez :-|
both Angie and Pamela K got me convinced, thanks a lot!
I was cheking the sites to order and bumped into this image: http://www.glassdharma.com/images/imSE.jpg who drinks wine with a straw? :D okay, one may have an oral-motor disability or so but still it looks awkward :P
cheking=checking
It might be just for me, but the Glass Dharma site isn't loading. Looks like it was earlier this morning, maybe they're having server issues.
I was put off by the extra fee/costs for the Strawesome guarantee, so I bought from GlassDharma and so far they have withstood my environment of many hands handling my dishes and drinkware.
It is nice to know that a simple send-back of a broken straw to the GlassDharma manufacturer is all that it takes for guranteed replacement. No other costs involved!
Hopefully it will never happen.
If you read Strawesome's guarantee carefully you might notice that we don't require you to send your straw back in order to get a new one. Instead you pay to have the new one shipped out to you which is pretty much the same cost as sending a broken straw back. Plus we're trying to not use more precious resources shipping products back and forth.
I would've appreciated the respect to comment on our colored straws as well. Doesn't really come off as a fair post in my eyes.
Daedra Surowiec, Owner & Artist at Strawesome
Thanks for your support of GlassDharma and for all alternatives to plastic straws. Yes, we were having website issues yesterday as we were being migrated to a new green host. All is OK now! Related to some other comments - We have many customers who use our straws to prevent teeth staining from wine, tea and coffee and we offer hemp sleeves to take your straws with you!
Gail Johnson, Co-Founder GlassDharma
Or you can just drink directly from the cup. :-) But a great product for people who are addicted to drinking from straws and those that don't have children.
Actually a majority of our customers buy our straws for their kids to use - with adult supervision. And yes, most people don't have to have a "beverage delivery system." And yet for those who have special medical needs, a teeth sensitivity, don't want to stain their teeth, don't want a thick smoothie to plop in their face, etc - I wouldn't refer to that as an addiction. We are grateful for the many who have a preference to use glass straws!
Gail Johnson, Co-Founder GlassDharma
having recently spent what, to me, is a small fortune on repairing years of damage to my teeth, including wearing braces (!), I truly value preventing stains, and drinking from straws is a huge step towards that. Coffee, tea, even white wine (allows other darker stains to penetrate) will stain, and glass straws help prevent it! Yaaay, glad they are easy to find now!