Not all plastic pollution is created equal. Plastic straws are especially dangerous for sea turtles, in the same way that balloons are dangerous for sea birds and 6-pack rings are dangerous to both. People didn't single out plastic straws to "virtue signal".
As for 'the plastic straw wins', I'm unconvinced. The energy cost might be lower, but none of your other reasons factor in environmental cost at all. I don't think any amount of 'feels good' is worth any amount of environmental damage.
Lastly, even if it were entirely symbolic (which it isn't) there's still value in that.
The "you're just virtue signalling" bullshit is infuriating. People need to consider the possibility that some other human beings actually have empathy, or different values to their own.
Bamboo straws for both home and bar use are pretty neat. I don't know if its true for children, but for grown men and women it feel better, at least. And those cost a less (especially if you already have small bamboo home and friend with woodwork equipement).
Well said. It makes sense to be outraged by environmental degradation. But it is good to channel our efforts to help in those places where it is most helpful by orders of magnitude.
That said, this article is one of the few that really changed my perception. I admit that I have released many balloons over the years, joyfully, with the assumption that latex biodegrades. Now that I see how empirically dangerous they are to seabirds, I won't be so joyful and will surely share the facts instead of releasing the balloons.
It's things like this (and opposition to nuclear, and refusal to consider geoengineering) that make people skeptical of the general environmental movement. After all, if this was such a huge problem... People would be trying to actually solve it instead of virtue signalling.