Starbucks says it plans to get rid of plastic straws.

星巴克表示他們計劃捨去塑膠吸管。

Restaurants and coffee shops in DC may soon have to say goodbye to plastic straws.

華盛頓特區的餐廳及咖啡廳或許很快就會和塑膠吸管說掰掰了。

It seems like everyone hates plastic straws all of a sudden.

看起來好像每個人一夕之間都開始痛恨吸管了。

Eight million tons plastic end up in the ocean each year and straws aren't even one percent of that.

每年有 800 萬噸塑膠垃圾流入大海，吸管甚至佔不到其中 1%。

So, why did campaigners, corporations, and governments all focus their efforts on straws? And why now?

所以，為什麼運動倡導人、企業和政府全都聚焦在吸管上？還有為什麼是現在？

Are we about to break up with the plastic straw once and for all?

我們是要和塑膠吸管分手了嗎？

Like any other relationship on the rocks, this one deserves some reflection.

就和其他瀕臨崩潰的關係一樣，這一個也需要一些反思。

The oldest straw we know about is 5,000 years old.

已知最古老的吸管來自 5000 多年前。

It was found in an ancient Sumerian tomb.

是在蘇美人的墳墓找到的。

The next key moment in our relationship with the straw came in the 1880s courtesy of an inventor, named Marvin Stone.

接著在 1880 年代，多虧發明家馬爾文．史東，我們和吸管的關係開始升溫。

Stone liked to drink mint juleps, but was bothered by the straws.

史東喜歡喝薄荷酒，但卻為吸管所苦。

They were made out of stocks of rye grass and sometimes they fell apart in your julep.

它們是用麥梗做成的，有時會在薄荷酒裡解體。

Stone found this unacceptable, so he wound a strip of paper around a pencil and glued it together.

史東對此難以接受，於是將紙條繞鉛筆一圈然後黏起來。

The paper straw was born.

紙吸管就此誕生。

He got the patent in 1888 and within a year, his factory was making two million straws a day.

他在 1888 年獲得專利，不到一年他的工廠已經開始每日製造 200 萬根吸管。

The next milestone in our relationship with the straw came when World War II set off a boom in plastics.

到了二戰期間塑膠製品蓬勃生產，我們和塑膠的感情邁入另一個里程碑。

Here's a plane containing hundreds of plastic parts.

這架飛機載滿上百件塑膠製品。

This parachute is made of nylon, a plastic.

這頂降落傘由尼龍製成，那是一種塑膠。

U.S. Plastic production increased 300 percent during the war.

美國的塑膠生產在戰爭期間成長了 300%。

After the war, plastic stuck around replacing wood, metal, and paper in industry after industry.

在戰後，塑膠持續在各產業取代木頭、金屬和紙類。

All these and thousands of other items, small and large that enrich our way of life, involved the use of plastic materials of one kind or another.

這所有的一切和其他上千件物品採用了各類塑膠，在不同程度上豐富了我們的生活。

In 2015, marine biologists in waters off of Costa Rica found a sea turtle with a straw stuck up its nose.

在 2015 年，海洋生物學家於哥斯大黎加外海發現一隻鼻腔卡了吸管的海龜。

The scientists removed the straw and filmed the process.

科學家取出了這根吸管，並且全程錄影。

It's hard to watch.

過程令人不忍直視。

You can tell the turtle is in a lot of pain.

看得出來海龜痛苦萬分。

When they put the video online, it went viral, giving a spark to a budding movement.

當他們將影片放上網，影片走紅，點燃了一起正要萌芽的行動。

If you think about climate change, that's been hard for people to understand what the impact is and what to do about this.

說到氣候變遷，人們很難了解它的影響還有如何貢獻己力。

Here you are saying, okay look, I'm giving you a very specific example, one straw, one animal.

現在這就好像在說，你看，我這給了你一個很清楚的例子，一根吸管害了一隻動物。

Magali Delmas has studied businesses and sustainability for 20 years and she's written a book about, how we can get consumers to make greener choices.

瑪加利．德馬斯對企業和永續已經研究了 20 年，她寫了一本書，告訴我們身為消費者如何做出更環保的選擇。

She says the anti-straw campaign is resonating because it's easy to do and has personal benefits for consumers, and it pays off for companies.

她說「反吸管行動」很有影響力是因為容易上手而且對消費者本身也有助益，企業也能得到好結果。

So, what benefit do you get for going without a plastic straw?

所以，你不再用塑膠吸管有什麼好處？

I'm getting better status, because you can say as an individual, yes, I am doing something for the planet and I can show it.

我的心裡比較好過，因為作為一個個體，我可以說我在為地球盡一份心力，而且是看得到的。

And also, there's the glamorous facts.

尤其是還有名人魅力。

Right? So, they're using Adrian Grenier and, you know, kind of movie star, to talk about this.

對吧？他們請阿德里安．格蘭尼還有，你知道的，其他電影明星來宣傳這件事。

So, it's cool, you make it cool.

所以這項行動變得很酷，你讓它變得很酷。

That increased sensitivity to our environmental impact is rubbing off on brands.

我們對環境影響的敏感度提升，這也影響了各大企業。

We see that consumers in all the surveys are saying, we want companies to be more responsible.

我們在各個調查發現，消費者表示希望企業負更多責任。

Socially responsible investors are now asking companies to show them that they are doing the right thing on all these different metrics.

有企業社會責任的消費者現在要求企業在各方面做對的事。

That's why companies are thinking about this much more seriously.

這也是為什麼企業會更加認真地思考這件事。

Though they're getting a lot of focus right now, straws aren't going to disappear overnight.

雖然塑膠吸管現在受到很多關注，但並不會一夕之間全部消失。

For one thing, disability activists have pointed out that some people need flexible plastic straws.

另一方面是，障礙人士群體也指出，有些人就是需要能夠彎曲的塑膠吸管。

Plus paper straws are making a comeback and other alternatives are popping up all over it, from collapsible straws, to silicone, to glass.

再說，紙吸管也要東山再起了，其他替代用品也開始出現，像是可折疊的吸管、矽膠吸管和玻璃吸管。

When you start with a small, simple solution that people can do in their homes, when they go out, then you kind of start to give people some hope.

當你從人們在家或是在外能著手的簡單小事開始，就給了人們一些希望。

And this isn't really about the straw itself.

所有的一切也不只關乎吸管本身。

The straw is just the first step, a way to get us thinking, what other habits could we change for the good of the planet?

吸管只是第一步，它讓我們開始思考：我們還能為這個星球做其他哪些改變？

Thanks for watching.

感謝你的收看。

Hit the comments with your thoughts on the straw band, like, subscribe and we'll see you next time.

在底下留言你對吸管的看法，按個讚，訂閱吧！我們下次見。