意面，或可成为塑料吸管的替代品

Roughly 8.5 billion plastic straws are used in the U.K. each year, but as a new ban takes effect next April, that number will shrink to zero.

英国每年大约使用85亿根塑料吸管，但随着明年4月新禁令的生效，这一数字将降至为零。

One startup is hoping to corner the market for alternative straws using an unlikely material: pasta.

一家初创公司希望利用一种不太可能的材料——意大利面，垄断替代吸管的市场。

“It ticks all the boxes in terms of functionality as a plastic straw that everyone’s been used to growing up,” says Maxim Gelmann, founder of Stroodles, the startup.

初创公司Stroodles的创始人马克西姆•盖尔曼(Maxim Gelmann)表示:“就功能而言，它符合所有标准，就像一根每个人在成长过程中都习惯了的塑料吸管。”

The straws, made by an Italian manufacturer that also produces regular pasta, are the same shape and size as a standard plastic straw.

这种吸管形状和大小与标准塑料吸管相同，由一家意大利面制造商制造。

图片来源：Stroodles

Unlike a paper straw, they don’t taste like wet paper; they don’t change the flavor of the drink. They last at least an hour, and longer in colder drinks.

与纸吸管不同，它们尝起来不像湿纸，也不会改变饮料的味道。它们至少可以持续一个小时，在较冷的饮料中可以持续更长时间。

“Let’s say you have your gin and tonic and then you refill it with ice, it goes even longer,” Gelmann says.

盖尔曼说:“假设你喝的是杜松子酒加奎宁水，然后再加冰，这种习惯会用得更久。”

If you’re nursing a drink for hours and the pasta eventually softens, you can choose to eat it (the raw straw is also edible, and Gelmann says that some people snack on them).

如果你喝了几个小时的饮料，意面吸管最终变软了，你可以选择把它吃掉(这种意面做的吸管完全可以生吃，盖尔曼表示，有些人甚至会把它当零食吃)。

A handful of other pasta-straw startups also exist, though Stroodles is hoping to differentiate itself with a smoother, more plastic-like texture and its branding.

虽然Stroodles希望通过更光滑、更像塑料的质地和品牌来让自己与众不同，但市面上还有其他几家意面吸管的初创企业。

It’s more expensive to make than a plastic straw, but at large volumes, it can compete with the cost of paper straws.

这种吸管的制造成本比塑料吸管要高，但如果大批量生产的话，它可以与纸吸管的成本相媲美。

Because of the coming ban, “no one really compares [us] with plastic anymore,” Gelmann says. “They compare [us] with paper straw prices, which makes my argument much easier.”

盖尔曼表示，由于即将出台的禁令，“没有人再把(我们)和塑料制品相提并论了。他们将(我们的)价格与纸质吸管价格进行比较，这让我更容易说服客户。”

Other alternatives, like bamboo or stainless steel, are more expensive and arguably a less elegant solution; some bars say that patrons don’t trust the idea that stainless steel straws can be fully sanitized.

其他的替代品，如竹子或不锈钢吸管，则更为昂贵，而且可以说是一种不那么优雅的解决方案;一些酒吧表示，顾客不相信不锈钢吸管可以完全消毒。

Another option—a plastic-like edible straw made from seaweed—may be more of a competitor.

另一种选择——由海藻制成的塑料状可食用吸管——可能更具竞争力。