Were straws originally made out of straw?: Design Mysteries Series

Silly Straws….
Is this the last straw? Meaning the straw that broke the camel’s back. Are we drawing straws to see who goes first?

Every fast food place has its own straw, extruded, branded and wrapped! And we use them to drink everything from Starbucks to Milkshakes at Burger King. But have you ever thought about just how many straws are used… According to some reports, 500 Million straws are used every day in just the USA! Yikes! And, who should we blame for this crazy invention The Modern disposable Straw? It was Martin C. Stone who patented the first paper drinking straw in 1888, but probably there were myriad permutations before, wood straws, glass straws, metal straws, straw- straws, and leaf straws. I’m sure straws were made of just about any material that allowed itself to be rolled or hollowed out.

And why is it called a straw? My guess is the original straw was made out of a hollow piece of grass of some kind. We know designers cannot leave well enough alone and so the designing begins even 3000 BC. Straws can be traced back to the Sumerians circa, 3000 BC. The straws were used to drink beer allowing the drinker to avoid the solids that are a by-product of fermentation. The oldest straw was discovered so far was found in Sumeria and dated to 3000 BC it is made of gold and decorated with precious stones

And then there’s LifeStraw………..

The evolution of LifeStraw started in 1994 when the Carter Center approached LifeStraw’s parent company, Vestergaard, to develop a filter that could remove Guinea worm larvae from the water it was contaminating. Vestergaard designed a cloth filter but then evolved that into the lifestraw in 1999. Today, more than 37 million LifeStraw Guinea Worm filters have been distributed contributing to the near-eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. Introduced 2005 the Lifestraw was developed into a personal straw that filters most water someone might encounter. Of course, the BEST idea when it comes to water is to provide clean, clear potable water to everyone in the world. But sometimes that’s not possible in instances of forced migration and other humanitarian crises, LifeStraw is a lifesaver. Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen is the CEO of Vestergaard Frandsen the company that specializes in complex emergency-response and disease-control products. LifStraw is a microbiological purifier which it launched in 2006 and which requires users to suck water through a straw that provides a filtering system which removes 99.9999 per cent of waterborne bacteria and over 98 percent of waterborne viruses, and which removes particles down to 15 microns, requires no electrical power and can filter up to 700 litres of water. Now that’s a STRAW, no funny twists and turns just a simple tube that provides a simple ay to drink water safely. The average person needs 10 liters (2.6 Gallons) of water per day to stay healthy. Cleaning, Cooking, etc., just add more water exponentially! But those first 10 Litres are the difference between life and death!

So maybe the idea of a straw isn’t so bad after all if it can save millions of lives!

#DesignMysteriesSeries [#24]
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Design Mysteries Series
Bruce Hannah 2018©