Americans use 500 million straws a day

Americans use 500 million straws a day
	UNSUPPORTED
	"Americans use 500 million plastic drinking straws every day, enough to circle the Earth 2.5 times."
Domain	Science & Environment
Tactic	Statistical & Evidentiary Distortion;
Era	Current
First seen	2011
Origin	An informal phone survey of straw manufacturers conducted in 2011 by a nine-year-old Vermont boy, Milo Cress, as part of a campaign against plastic straws
Last reviewed	2026-10-27
	Further reading: books on Science & Environment

The claim that Americans use 500 million straws a day was cited by major news organizations, environmental groups and legislators during campaigns to ban plastic straws, especially in 2018. The figure came from a nine-year-old boy in Vermont who, in 2011, started a campaign to reduce straw use and estimated the number by phoning straw manufacturers. His initiative was admirable, but the figure was never based on systematic research, and later market estimates varied widely. Plastic straws are a real source of litter, but they make up a tiny share of plastic entering the oceans. The figure illustrates how a number can become an accepted "fact" through repetition.

The claim

The statistic was often presented with vivid comparisons, such as enough straws to fill thousands of school buses each year or circle the Earth multiple times a day. It appeared in news reports, on the websites of environmental organizations and in arguments for straw bans adopted by cities such as Seattle in 2018 and by companies including Starbucks.

Origin

In 2011 Milo Cress, then nine, launched the "Be Straw Free" campaign, which encouraged restaurants to offer straws only on request. He said he estimated daily straw use by calling straw manufacturers and asking how many straws they produced. The National Park Service and other organizations featured his campaign and the figure, and it spread widely. In 2017 and 2018, as plastic pollution received intense media attention, the number was repeated by many outlets.

In 2018 reporters, including at Reason magazine, traced the figure to its source and noted that it had not been independently verified.

What the evidence shows

No systematic count. There is no official data on the number of straws used each day in the United States. The 500 million figure came from a child's phone survey, not from market research.
Other estimates differ. Market research firms produced later estimates using different methods, with figures in the hundreds of millions per day but varying considerably. All such estimates involve uncertainty.
Small share of ocean plastic. Analyses based on research by Jenna Jambeck and colleagues estimated that straws account for a very small fraction of the millions of tonnes of plastic entering the oceans each year, well under one percent. Larger contributors include fishing gear, packaging, bottles and bags.

Why it matters

Straw bans drew attention to plastic pollution and single-use culture, and reducing unnecessary disposables can be worthwhile. But critics argued that the focus on straws, driven partly by a dramatic statistic and viral video of a sea turtle with a straw in its nose, distracted from larger sources of ocean plastic. Disability advocates also raised concerns that bans could harm people who rely on flexible plastic straws to drink safely.

The case shows that environmental misinformation is not limited to people who deny environmental problems. Advocates can also spread unverified figures in support of good causes.

Why it persists

The figure is specific, memorable and easily visualized. It came attached to an appealing story about a young activist, which discouraged scrutiny. Once cited by respected outlets, it was repeated by others without checking its source.

Lessons for readers

Trace statistics to their original source, even when they support a cause you agree with.
Precise figures can be little more than estimates.
Ask how large a problem is relative to others before deciding where to focus effort.
Consider unintended consequences of policy responses, such as effects on people with disabilities.
Repetition by many outlets does not mean a number has been verified.

Sources

Eric Boehm, "Here's How a 9-Year-Old Boy Influenced America's Plastic Straw Bans," Reason, May 2018.
Jenna R. Jambeck et al., "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean," Science 347, no. 6223 (2015).
Be Straw Free campaign materials (Eco-Cycle and the National Park Service, 2011).
Reporting on plastic straw bans and disability concerns, 2018 (multiple outlets).