By Rita Cook
Correspondent
Texas Metro News
As of the end of February, Pres. Donald Trump has signed 73 Executive Orders.
If you think that is a lot you would be wrong.
In fact, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 3,721 Executive Orders and Woodrow Wilson signed 1,803.
However, Trump has gotten off to a rip-roaring start in his administration using the power of the pen.
I am not loving him or hating him for it, but it is safe to say he will go down in history regarding his Executive Orders. This is mainly due to the fact the country has never been more divided and many Americans just simply love to hate him.
This week, I am going to introduce you to Executive Order 14208 – Ending Procurement and Forced Use of Paper Straws.
Section 1 of the order reads, “An irrational campaign against plastic straws has resulted in major cities, States, and businesses banning the use or automatic inclusion of plastic straws with beverages. Plastic straws are often replaced by paper straws, which are nonfunctional, use chemicals that may carry risks to human health, are more expensive to produce than plastic straws, and often force users to use multiple straws. Additionally, paper straws sometimes come individually wrapped in plastic, undermining the environmental argument for their use.”
The order was signed on February 10, 2025, and, before you start thinking this is a “Trump only” thing, let me be clear, this Executive Order was signed by Trump to remove the Biden-era policy to promote only the use of paper straws.
In short, the order directs the federal government to stop purchasing paper straws as they are no longer to be used in federal buildings, according to the White House.
Personally, I have never cared for paper straws anyway, they never last the length of my beverage
Of course, some say there is the environmental issue to consider.
The White House has reported that paper straws not only cost more than plastic straws but also use chemicals that can harm humans.
I decided to do a little research on the history of the “straw.”
Apparently, the oldest drinking straw ever found was from a Sumerian tomb dated back to 3,000 BCE. It was not paper or plastic, but instead a gold tube that was inlaid with lapis lazuli.
In fact, plastic straws did not even become popular until after World War II.
In my research I was reminded of those “children friendly” twisted straws called Sip-N-See, that made drinking anything fun.
I am not sure how many Sip-N-See straws ended up in landfill, however the White House said paper straws are not quite as “environmentally friendly” as they have been praised to be either.
States such as Colorado, California, and Washington are paper straw enthusiasts and there are a number of countries that banned plastic straws a number of years ago too.
My straw experiences outside the United States include a trip to India where they insisted on my using a metal straw. I was horrified due to sanitary reasons and declined.
Another straw memory was in Laos. I was at a “calling back your soul ceremony” in a remote Laotian village. I was sitting in a large room where the ceremony was taking place and there was a huge pot boiling some concoction in the middle of the room that possibly could have made me fly away. It was a bamboo straw they were using and the entire village was sipping the concoction from the same straw. My turn came to sip. I politely rubbed the top of the straw and pretended to make mouth-to-straw contact, while also pretending to inhale the magic potion.
In short, don’t share your straw. Paper, plastic, bamboo, or metal.
As for Trump, this Executive Order is his official declaration paper is out, plastic is back.
In addition to his Executive Order there is also a “National Strategy to End the Use of Paper Straws” roll out by March 27 to “alleviate the forced use of paper straws nationwide.”
Of course, environmentalists are horrified due to the plastic pollution harming wildlife. One group, however, has reported plastic straws make up about 0.022% of plastic waste that ends up in the ocean each year. They said the straw ban argument and Trump’s reversal to use plastic straws will do little to harm the environment in any serious way.
Rita Cook is a world traveler and writer/editor who specializes in writing on travel, auto, crime and politics. A correspondent for Texas Metro News, she has published 11 books and has also produced low-budget films.
