THE STRAW THAT BROKE THE CAMEL'S BACK: Tales of Bars, Cafes, and Airplanes

"NOOOOOO!" I screamed as the bartender reached for the plastic straw. But my holler dissipated into the lively chatter of our local pub.

In a flash of flying arms and red plastic, my friend Beth dove across the bar pulling the straw out of the drink and, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, started chewing on it. "I needed a toothpick anyway" she said, winking at me. Before I could decide whether I should sigh in relief (because I didn't have to leave the bar with any trash), or tell Beth she shouldn't rescue me like that (because really, that's totally cheating, right?); the bartender looked back at the drink, and with a confused I-could-have-sworn-I-just-put-a-straw-in-that-drink look on her face, reached for another one.

"No-no-no-no-no," I tried in a renewed frenzy, this time with Beth hollering along with me. The bartender startled as our shrill cries broke through the uniform buzz of the bar. In a swift panic she released that second straw - because apparently somebody's life depended on it - straight into the trash.

Suddenly, in an earnest attempt to save one straw, I had actually wasted two. What a bummer.

This kind of event is actually quite common. I can think of a few times in the past that I've gone to a coffee shop and handed over my own mug, only to have the barista make the drink in a paper cup, transfer it to my mug, and throw the cup away right in front of my alarmed eyes. But my favorite story has to be my mother's recent account of proudly holding up her thermos for a flight attendant, asking for some hot water. "Sure thing!" was the response from the attendant, who returned promptly with a big smile and not-one-but-two Styrofoam cups full of steaming hot water to be poured into the thermos.

Though it may be a no-brainer to us that bringing our own containers is a great (and increasingly common) way to reduce our dependence on disposables, it's not automatic for everybody. I've found it helps to drop a hint as to why I'm offering my own container, right as I hand the thing over. Even just a passing "trying to do what I can to throw less away..." goes a long way. Otherwise the server's muscle memory is likely to take over.

Think about it: the poor broke college kid who takes your order probably reaches for literally hundreds of disposable cups/straws/whatevers each day, usually at a frantic pace, glancing up to take the next customer's order as they mindlessly drop that finishing touch of plastic into your order. Either that, or they're shouting your order to somebody else, who's not likely to have seen that you brought your own mug. A deliberate comment or explanation is usually all it takes to get them to register the idea behind the gesture.

Last night I had another opportunity to order a cocktail without a straw, so I just told the bartender I had given up trash for Lent, and asked if she could please forget about the straw. Of course she said yes, and now that she had a background reason, I didn't have to worry about her busy bartender muscle memory taking over when it came time to reach for that li'l ole piece o' plastic.

By the way, if you just don't feel like explaining the whole thing to one more bartender, a local beer on tap is always a safe choice.