>go to mcdonald's

>order hot cakes and a large orange juice

>receive hot cakes in plastic container, with six individually plastic wrapped teaspoons of butter and a plastic tub of high fructose corn syrup and a large plastic cup of orange juice

>throw away plastic straw

>pull out reusable metal straw

>I'm saving the environment one breakfast at a time

Here, the paper straws were individually packed in plastic foil.

I know this probably isn't the best place, but I really hate the way paper straws feel, but I also hate being handed a any straw when I can just drink straight from the cup anyway.

It's why the EU voted in regulations today against single use packaging despite howls of protest from the fast food industry.

In my community, most of the lids are biodegradable. Still not great (require an industrial composter), but at least if it is left out, it does breakdown somewhat faster than "never"