It was only one straw, said 8 billion people.
Plastic straws account for about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of plastic waste that enters our waterways each year. While there is much being done across the world to ban the straw and other single-use plastics, we have a role to play as travellers to refuse single-use plastics and say no to plastic straws. Our comments and refusals will then hopefully prompt restaurants and cafe owners to cease the use of plastic straws completely. It’s already starting to happen in many places worldwide.
In order to make that a little bit easier for you, I’ve collaborated with travel bloggers to bring you 40 ways to say “No Plastic Straw” –
French
Contributed by Laurence from Finding The Universe
Pas de paille s’il vous plait [Pah-duh-pie-seal-voo-play]
Swedish
Contributed by Alex from Swedish Nomad
Inget sugrör i plast, tack [Ing-et sug-roer i pla-st, takk]
Armenian
Contributed by Megan from Absolute Armenia
Առանց պլաստիկ ձողիկի [Arants-plasteek-zorghiki]
Romanian
Contributed by Joanna from The World in My Pocket
Fara pai (de plastic) va rog [fah-rah pai (deh pla-stik) vah rog]
Filipino
Contributed by Katherine from Tara Let’s Anywhere
Wag na po yung plastic straw. [Wag na po yung plas-tik stro.]
Italian
Contributed by Sabrina from In My Suitcase
Per favore, senza cannuccia di plastica [per-favore-senza-cannuccia-di-plastica]
Bulgarian
Contributed by Lyubomira from Bulgarian On The Go
Без (пластмасова) сламка, моля. [Bez (plastmasova) slamka, mоlja.]
Finnish
Contributed by Niina from Bizarre Globehopper
Ei muovipilliä, kiitos. [a-moi-v-pilli-æ-key-tosh]
Hebrew
Contributed by Or from My Path in The World
בלי קש בבקשה ]Bli kash bevakasha]
Japanese
Contributed by Sylvia from Wapiti Travel
プラスチックストローはいりません。[Purasuchikkusutorō wa irimasen]
Lithuanian
Contributed by Jurga from Full Suitcase
Prašau be šiaudelio [Prashau-be-sheuwdælö]
Spanish
Contributed from Bella from Passport and Pixels
Sin pajita, gracias [SIN pa-HEET-a, GRA-see-ass]
Portuguese
Contributed from Bella from Passport and Pixels
Sem palhinha, obrigada (woman) or obrigado (man) [Sane pel-EEN-ya OB-ree-GARD-ah (or OB-ree-GARD-oh for a man)]
German
Contributed by Andy from Travel Made Simple
ˈoːnə ˈʃtʀoːhalm ˈbɪtə [Ohne Strohalm, bitte.]
Chinese (Taiwan)
Contributed by Mariza from Hop On World
我不想要吸管 (Wǒ bùxiǎng yào xīguǎn) [Wo boo shang yao shee-guan.]
Afrikaans
Contributed by Mariza from Hop On World
Geen strooitjie, dankie. [Gheen stroi-ki, dan-ki.]
Turkish
Contributed by Haley from Border Lass
Pipet istemiyorum lütfen [Pipet ist-em-me-yor-um lut-fen]
Euskera (Basque Country)
Contributed by Elisa from France Bucket List
Plastikozko lastoa ez mesedez [plastikozko lastoa etz da mesedetz (the “z” sounds like a “tz”)]
Malay
Contributed by Yen from Swing Abroad
tʌk nʌk straw [Tak Nak Straw]
Croatian
Contributed by Vera from Frank About Croatia
Bez plastične slamke, molim! [bəz-pla:stichnə-sla:mkə]
Vietnamese
Contributed by Emily from Wander Lush
Không sử dụng ống hút [Khom su zung ung hoút (upward inflection on the last word)]
Spanish (Mexico)
Contributed by Julien from Cultures Traveled
Sin popote [seen poh-poh-tay ]
Ukrainian
Contributed by Inna from Executive Thrillseeker
без соломинки, будь ласка [bez solomynky, bud laska]
Polish
Contributed by Diana from The Elusive Family
Poprosze bez słomki. [pup-rosh-e bez (short e) s-wom-key]
Greek
Contributed by Chris from Trip & Trail
Χωρίς καλαμάκι παρακαλώ [horis kalamaki parakal]
Arabic
Contributed by Daisy from Beyond My Border
بدون مصاصات لو سمحت [Bidoon mas-sa-sat lao sa-mahit]
Bengali
Contributed by Tanaya from Tanaya’s Table
Straw chhara [strɔ chāṛā (“straw” is pronounced the same as in English)]
Iranian
Contributed by Daniel from Layer Culture
Neye plastici nemikham loftan [nehy-plas-tikay-nemy-haam-lot-fan]
Dutch
Contributed by Lisanne from Chapter Travel
Geen rietje, alsjeblieft [Geen ri-tjah als-je-blieft]
Czech
Contributed by Veronika by Travel Geekery
Bez brčka, prosím. [bez brchkaa proseem]
Estonian
Contributed by Zenja by Bearly Here
Kõrt pole vaja, aitäh! [Kyrt poh-leh va-yah, ai-tah (õ is a very specific sound, can’t transcript)]
Hungarian’
Contributed by Eniko from Travel Hacker Girl
Nem kérek szívószálat! [Nem kirek sivosalat!]
Luxembourgish
Contributed by Mei and Kerstin from Travel With MK
əʊniː ‘ʃɑlymo/ vɑn eɕ gəlift [Ouni Schallimo wann ech gelift]
Nepali
Contributed by Hannah from Naturally Hannah
मलाई नराख्नुहोस् [malai straw nadinnus]
Hindi
Contributed by Chandresh from Family on the Wheels
तरल पदार्थ पीने की नली को उपयोग न करें [Taral Padarth peene ki nali ka upyog na kare]
Tamil
Contributed by Priya from Outside Suburbia
ஸ்ட்ரா வேண்டாம் [Sṭrā Vēṇ-ṭām]
Related reading: 5 Travels Hacks to Make Your Travels Plastic Free