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Woodland Park-based Pract-Eco Solutions makes a durable and innovative alternative to plastic utensils, using sugarcane.
ABOVE: Pract-Eco Solutions founder Connor Santana promises Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws don’t fall apart when immersed in beverages.
Connor Santana, left, discusses Pract-Eco Solutions Nex Sip Sugarcane Drinking Straws with supporters at an outdoor market.
A box of 50 Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws retails for $4.95 on the
Woodland Park-based Pract-Eco Solutions makes a durable and innovative alternative to plastic utensils, using sugarcane.
A box of 50 Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws retails for $4.95 on the
Plastic straws have gotten quite a bit of environmental backlash in recent years. Small and light, they can end up in the nostrils and stomachs of aquatic animals, and they aren’t biodegradable — meaning bacteria can’t break them down. As a result, discarded straws may end up in wildlife habitats, threatening plant and animal inhabitants.
Paper straws and even glass and metal straws are some more environmentally friendly alternatives, but the paper ones can become soggy and fall apart when immersed. The latter types need to be cleaned.
For these reasons, Woodland Park resident Connor Santana co-founded Pract-Eco Solutions LLC in north Colorado Springs in 2021, and in October moved it to Sunnywood Avenue in Woodland Park. The company provides a durable and innovative alternative to plastic utensils, using sugarcane. Its chief product, Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws, is unique because, unlike paper straws, these don’t become soggy or fall apart when immersed in beverages or end up in animals’ stomachs.
To learn more or place an order, visit nex-sip.com
Instagram: instagram.com/pract_eco_solutions/
“Our intent was to provide ‘practical’ and ‘ecological’ products to our clients. The name Pract-Eco Solutions was born,” said Santana, the company’s chief executive officer.
Santana said he became environmentally conscious after being introduced to eco-campaigns advocating for products less harmful to the environment.
“I quickly learned that the alternative products were not economically feasible for businesses, or that clients were forced to compromise in some way, paper straws growing soggy in drinks, for instance. This is when my drive to find a better solution began,” Santana said.
Santana learned much about product marketing during his five years in the U.S. Army, serving as a logistics officer specializing in distribution, warehousing and international freight shipping. After the Army, Santana and his wife researched materials that could replace plastic and paper straws, and found that biodegradable straws can be made from rice, wheat, agave and sugarcane bagasse.
Bagasse is the dry, pulpy fibrous material that remains after crushing sugarcane or sorghum stalks to extract their juice. It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in the manufacture of pulp and building materials.
ABOVE: Pract-Eco Solutions founder Connor Santana promises Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws don’t fall apart when immersed in beverages.
“One unique characteristic of sugarcane straws, however, is that biowaste is repurposed in its production. Sugarcane bagasse is the biowaste that remains after raw sugar is produced from sugarcane and it is traditionally burned. The frequency of the bagasse burning has been shown to be harmful to local communities, such as in Florida,” Santana said.
According to Santana, Taiwan in 2018 pioneered the technology of combining sugarcane bagasse with polylactic acid. PLA is a bioplastic that is 100% biodegradable and manufactured from plant starch.
“The option to use metal straws with a cleaning brush was not practical to use on a daily basis. Cleaning the straws doesn’t quite get the taste of the last drink out of the straw. This is why we set our focus on sugarcane straws. They are the best combination of ‘practical’ and ‘ecological,’” Santana said.
The Pract-Eco Solutions straws are composed of repurposed sugarcane bagasse and biodegradable PLA, and meet European biodegradation standards requiring the compostable plastics to disintegrate after 12 weeks and biodegrade after six months. That means 90% or more of the plastic material will have been converted to carbon dioxide.
The Sugarcane Straws do not contain any plastic and are made of compostable materials.
“While our products do biodegrade within a year, if you rinse it off after a drink and let it dry, it can be used again if you so choose. We market our straws as disposable straws, though,” Santana said.
The straws are best used in cold or lukewarm drinks. Use in hot liquids might affect the straw’s durability, states the Nex Sip website, nex-sip.com.
Notably, sipping beverages through a sugarcane straw does not affect one’s blood sugar.
“Our Sugarcane straws should pose no issue to those with diabetes or glucose-sensitive conditions,” the website states. “Once the sugar is extracted from the sugarcane crop, the remaining plant fibers are then processed into pellets to create our sugarcane plant fiber straws.”
When you’re finished with the straw, it can be composted.
Santana launched his company in June 2020, during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Before year’s end, the company expanded into two distributors, more than 20 restaurants and several retail locations, and launched e-commerce through Amazon, Ebay and a Facebook page.
A box of 50 of Nex Sip! Sugarcane Drinking Straws retails for $4.95 on the company’s website and on its Facebook page.
Santana wants consumers and restaurants to know there are biodegradable alternatives to plastic and paper straws.
“Additionally, we offer our five-inch cocktail stir straws and boba tea straws, excellent for smoothies. We do not operate through third parties and are thus able to fortunately keep operating costs low,” Santana said.
Connor Santana, left, discusses Pract-Eco Solutions Nex Sip Sugarcane Drinking Straws with supporters at an outdoor market.