The Best Straws Ever

 We drink a lot of smoothies at our house, and a 3-year old drinking a smoothie just seems to work best when there is a straw involved. However, I hated buying and using the plastic drinking straws... not only because they are probably leaching toxins into the smoothie, but also because they are, well, made from plastic. Plastics cause a whole lot of pollution in the production phase, they are made from fossil fuels (which are being depleted), and they don't decompose and end up killing wildlife. So, in short, we try to avoid as much plastic as possible, especially disposable plastic, like drinking straws.
But, I hadn't really found a great alternative to the disposable straws. We found some reusable plastic straws, but they were hard to clean and would get clogged. They were also soft enough to chew on, so they started to have a crinkled appearance... which only contributed to the hard-to-clean factor. I have seen glass drinking straws, and although that sounded great for me.... it didn't quite seem appropriate for a toddler. So when I read a post on a blog I follow, Toward Sustainability, about stainless steel drinking straws, I knew this was exactly what my family needed.
I found a set online and ordered them right away. They cost about $14 for a set of 4, so they weren't exactly cheap, but considering that I will have them forever and they won't clog and pollute a landfill, I'd say it's a fair price. We have been using them for a couple of weeks now and they are great! We haven't had any trouble cleaning them, they are super sturdy, and just look cool. I love 'em!