Thread by @crippledscholar

This

but also remember the very real context of

Straw bans won't actually reduce plastic because there is no mechanism to stop the petroleum used to make straws being used to make other plastic

So they are hurting disabled people for nothing

https://twitter.com/brookewinters33/status/1020108566018084864

There is no aspect of straw bans that seems to make sense with the overall goal of helping the environment

Despite the gymnastics many people do when you point out the cavernous holes in their logic

Straw bans hurt disabled people

Too bad, their sacrifice is worth it to save the environment

Straw bans don't actually help the environment because they aren't actually removing a particularly dangerous piece of trash from the environment and there is nothing to stop the space that straws took up with some other plastic

But that one video of that turtle though

Turtles are threatened more by things like plastic bags or party balloons even if banning either didn't reduce the amount of plastic in the world, fewer animals would die

But if we ban balloons how will I dramatically reveal what kind of genitals my baby has?

Straw bans don't reduce plastic and will hurt many disabled people who rely on them

Well there are reusable or compostable options

Those don't work for many disabled people

Oh um well plastic trash is bad for people in the global south so banning straws is still helping them

Yes and they are threatened by plastic generally not straws specifically and as I have already pointed out straw bans don't reduce plastic

Yeah but it's still a net gain that the straw ban is starting a much needed conversation about plastic trash

I'm going to spend some time breaking down that last one because it is frankly chilling

Let's break that argument down

It is apparently a good thing that we rallied millions of people behind a campaign that fundamentally fails to live up to its own mission, gives people a false sense of having accomplished something...

while creating a hostile environment for marginalized people while also in many cases justifying putting additional barriers in place

I have seen many people sincerely suggest that disabled people should legitimately have to get prescriptions to access sraws

over a campaign that functionally does nothing for the environment

Presenting a social movement as inherently positive over the basic idea that saving the environment is good when the campaign not only doesn't actually succeed and its failure comes at the expense of disabled people is scary

At it's most basic calling a failure a success in the context of something as genuinely pressing as the environment basically guarantees we will never actually save it

because we've already set the bar for success at lower than success

This isn't even a debate over whether major change should be the immediate goal over incremental change

This isn't even incremental change

What the #strawban has actually done is start a conversation about who will have to carry the weight if saving the environment is ever going to occur and what sacrifices are acceptable

This is a conversation that has emboldened people to attack and shame people over something that will not save the environment

That is a dangerous precedent

I predict the world will let the environment burn while taking things away from marginalized people

before the world will actually take a close look at what actually needs to be done

But hey if you really want me to cut down on my dependence on single use plastic you can do that by donating here

gofundme.com/ableismsucks

If you just want to support my work you can help me out by tipping me here

paypal.me/crippledscholar