Straws at drink stations

[lorenni]

epic thread

they were plastic when I was on the Fantasy two weeks ago. We don't use the drink station because we're bottled water drinkers (*ducks*)... but we always recycle our water and bring our own bags to grocery stores, etc... I had no idea how harmful plastic straws were to the environment so I learned from this thread...

just curious to the anti-plastic straw peeps on this thread - do you guys drink coffee/tea from a Keurig or the traditional route?

I have a keurig with reusable pods that I fill with my own coffee.

 

[lklgoodman]

I bought a Keurig when they first came out. Used it for a few months and went back to my regular drip coffee maker. If I ever start using it again I will buy the reusable pod so I can fill it with Dunkin donuts coffee, costs too much to buy the single serve pods. I didn't care for most of the flavored coffee pods that I had tried when I was using it, I prefer flavored coffeemate.

 

[Billinaz]

All of these apply when on board the ship. Any ship really. Turn off lights when leaving the stateroom. Re use towels. Only take pool towels you really need. Use refillable cups for drinks.

When I got on the Fantasy a couple weeks ago, there was already a card sitting in the slot for the lights....

I dont re-use the towels.... the ship generates its own water.

But using their cups to fill your cup (like you should) negates this theory.

 

[Billinaz]

Culver’s ice cream shake, margarita at Yak and Yeti in the Animal Kingdom.

Does someone have skill to drink either of those without a straw?

For those whom are more familiar with paper straws; I’m curious ....

Are there paper straws that will last a half hour while drinking a super thick shake? Without getting all gummy? Without collapsing midway through the shake? When I was little they seemed so weak.

At Animal Kingdom I had to refuse the straw because of my tree allergy’s. But the glass was tall with what looks like a sort of round tree fort at the top. And I ended up repeatedly smashing the slush over my upper lip and out of the sides of the wider rim onto my shirt. Had to smell like tequila the last four hours at the park with my daughter. I probably imagine it worse than it really was, but I felt like a pig.

I had to give up making my own fruit infused water because it got expensive to boil and sanitize plastic glasses with rubber gaskets that wouldn’t hold up or the plastic would crack(Doctor requires those are tossed because fruit mold can harbor in cracks). Got to be more hassle than it was worth both timewise and financially. But boiling was required to make sure that I killed any mold that the fruit would create.

Pretty sure a collapsible metal straw would be asking for trouble for me. I also don’t think businesses that go through your purse before you enter are going to feel that that’s a very safety friendly tool for people to be carrying around.

Holy cow. Pages and pages on complaining about straws.

Pretty ridiculous.

Use a straw or dont, its up to you.

Now lets have pages about how disgusting it is with people refilling their personal cups at the drink stations without using the cups provided and pouring that into your cup.

 

[Ben E N]

Holy cow. Pages and pages on complaining about straws.

Pretty ridiculous.

Use a straw or dont, its up to you.

Now lets have pages about how disgusting it is with people refilling their personal cups at the drink stations without using the cups provided and pouring that into your cup.

I'm just going to assume you posted, thinking you know best, without reading those pages and pages and not bother adding anything else to this response.

 

[cyclenut]

Holy cow. Pages and pages on complaining about straws.

Pretty ridiculous.

Use a straw or dont, its up to you.

Now lets have pages about how disgusting it is with people refilling their personal cups at the drink stations without using the cups provided and pouring that into your cup.

Let's talk about using their cups to refill your cup, shall we? I'd like to know why that is so important. When I refill my Tervis, it doesn't come into contact with anything at the drink station. The liquid pours directly into the top of the cup. No germ transfer. No sanitation issue and no waste. Not to mention the fact that since the Tervis as a lid, the rim of the cup itself never comes into contact with my mouth.

Further, if you had actually read the thread you would notice that most of the pages have discussed environmental impact and issues, not simply about straws.

Lastly, the ship doesn't "generate" water. It uses a desalination and purification process, which uses energy. Then there is also the waste water, which must be processed. Conserving water does conserve energy and limits waste.

 

[Billinaz]

Let's talk about using their cups to refill your cup, shall we? I'd like to know why that is so important. When I refill my Tervis, it doesn't come into contact with anything at the drink station. The liquid pours directly into the top of the cup. No germ transfer. No sanitation issue and no waste. Not to mention the fact that since the Tervis as a lid, the rim of the cup itself never comes into contact with my mouth.

Further, if you had actually read the thread you would notice that most of the pages have discussed environmental impact and issues, not simply about straws.

Lastly, the ship doesn't "generate" water. It uses a desalination and purification process, which uses energy. Then there is also the waste water, which must be processed. Conserving water does conserve energy and limits waste.

So how do you push the lever to dispense the drink?

And now that the liquid that has been sloshing around with the liquid that includes your saliva, you are indeed touching that to the dispenser.

The "environmental issues" you refer to are overblown and out of the realm of reality. People make up way too much out of a very minor thing.

Nobody reads the entire thread, it drones on with the same thing if people trying to justify their personal feelings and force them onto others.

 

[Billinaz]

I'm just going to assume you posted, thinking you know best, without reading those pages and pages and not bother adding anything else to this response.

I already gave the ultimate statement that consolidates the entire thread.

Use a straw or dont, its up to you.

 

[Ben E N]

I already gave the ultimate statement that consolidates the entire thread.

Use a straw or dont, its up to you.

Right, showing that you didn't actually read the thread. Your right and choice to do so, but don't assume that makes your statement correct or all knowing. It has been shared and addressed other times within the same thread, which is why it is not worth responding to again.

 

[Billinaz]

Right, showing that you didn't actually read the thread. Your right and choice to do so, but don't assume that makes your statement correct or all knowing. It has been shared and addressed other times within the same thread, which is why it is not worth responding to again.

Which is why people dnt read 9 pages of blather. It turns into an us vs. them environment.

Yet, you did just that.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

When I refill my Tervis, it doesn't come into contact with anything at the drink station. The liquid pours directly into the top of the cup. No germ transfer. No sanitation issue and no waste. Not to mention the fact that since the Tervis as a lid, the rim of the cup itself never comes into contact with my mouth.

Well, when you dispense the liquid out of the spigot, it splashes. Droplets of soda can be transferred back to the spigot. If you drink out of the cup, your saliva will indeed "touch" the soda in the cup you are now refilling, contaminating it.

 

[Ben E N]

Well, when you dispense the liquid out of the spigot, it splashes. Droplets of soda can be transferred back to the spigot. If you drink out of the cup, your saliva will indeed "touch" the soda in the cup you are now refilling, contaminating it.

Yeah, in that case I am all in favor of filling up one of their cups and then dumping the contents into your personal container. As wasteful as it may be to use the cup only once for that purpose, those cups are made out of waxed paper and will eventually break down. You risk spreading a lot of disease in a small, contained ship, by directly filling up your own containers from the spout.

 

[lorenni]

Let's talk about using their cups to refill your cup, shall we? I'd like to know why that is so important. When I refill my Tervis, it doesn't come into contact with anything at the drink station. The liquid pours directly into the top of the cup. No germ transfer. No sanitation issue and no waste. Not to mention the fact that since the Tervis as a lid, the rim of the cup itself never comes into contact with my mouth.

.

If refilling water bottles/drinks were so problematic, why would airports, schools and offices now all be adding water bottle refill stations to standard water fountains? And what about water fountains?

Is it the DCL rule? Yes.

In real life I refill my reusable water bottle everywhere. Just like at the soda machines, the OUTSIDE of the bottle/cup presses the lever (or it’s one of the fancy automatic ones) and the liquid flows directly into the container. Unless you are in the habit of licking the outside of your drinking vessel I don’t see the problem.

 

[Dug720]

If refilling water bottles/drinks were so problematic, why would airports, schools and offices now all be adding water bottle refill stations to standard water fountains? And what about water fountains?

Is it the DCL rule? Yes.

In real life I refill my reusable water bottle everywhere. Just like at the soda machines, the OUTSIDE of the bottle/cup presses the lever (or it’s one of the fancy automatic ones) and the liquid flows directly into the container. Unless you are in the habit of licking the outside of your drinking vessel I don’t see the problem.

It is the standard on all cruise ships as far as I know. Because ships are much more contained than out in the real world - and the medical facilities on ships is much more limited than in the real world.

And you don't have to "lick" it. Many of us do not use straws (for a multitude of reasons) which puts the rim or the cup directly in contact with our mouths.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Makes me start to wonder how clean a drinking fountain is in a mall or a school or the airport.

 

[lorenni]

Makes me start to wonder how clean a drinking fountain is in a mall or a school or the airport.

“They” say the reason we all get sick so much is that we are not exposed early and often enough to regular old dirt and germs and bacteria. We don’t walk around barefoot anymore or get our hands in the dirt.

I remember reading an article about a study comparing typical suburban school kids and Amish kids on farms and the kids who literally walked around barefoot in cow pies and had regular contact with farm animals had much stronger immune systems and lower incidence of asthma.

Not a reason to fasten your mouth directly to the soft serve dispenser, but maybe a bit of food for thought regarding society’s growing obsession with being germ free. My kid gets sick less than anyone in my house and he’s filthy every time I pick him up from school. Maybe if I spent more time touching comunnal surfaces and playing in the sandbox my immune system would be as good as his!

 

[TestingH2O]

If refilling water bottles/drinks were so problematic, why would airports, schools and offices now all be adding water bottle refill stations to standard water fountains? And what about water fountains?

The bottle fillers are much dirtier than the actual fountain. I've seen the cultures. Not only are they splashed with backwash, but cleaning crews don't think to wipe them down.

 

[Ben E N]

The bottle fillers are much dirtier than the actual fountain. I've seen the cultures. Not only are they splashed with backwash, but cleaning crews don't think to wipe them down.

And cruise ships are a special beast where everyone is trapped on one for days on end. I don't share water fountains with people at work and bring my own because I can avoid it. On a cruise ship, you're stuck, so sanitation in that case is extra important.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Makes me start to wonder how clean a drinking fountain is in a mall or a school or the airport.

Drinking fountains always grossed me out. Even as a kid. Probably has to do with the guys spitting in them at school when I was young.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Makes me start to wonder how clean a drinking fountain is in a mall or a school or the airport.

How about a Milwaukee hospital in the 80’s and Cryptosporidium? Bottled water got big after that. Turns out it was in the water fountains at the hospital visitors were getting sicker than those they went to visit. They still have water fountains but a filtering system to protect it from happening again.
That whole thing hit Kenosha and Racine hard as well where I lived at the time.