Banning plastic straws is the new Harlem Shake - it is trendy to use alternative methods of sucking down your drink in the sun to show how much you care about the environment. But is this trend toward using alternatives and banning plastic straws fully motivated by saving the environment or by monetary reasons? If we banned plastic straws in the United States fully - how much of the plastic in the ocean would be reduced? Let's look at the information and see if maybe there is something that is more helpful.