Product design truly is an endless journey. We, as a species, go from solving one problem to another till we have something that is as close to perfect as it can get… and that process can often take, well, millennia. The earliest instances of straws date nearly 5000 years back, and were made by the Ancient Sumerians who used hollow metal tubes to drink out of large vats (they also pioneered beer fermentation, so take from that what you will). Over the years, the humble straw evolved and saw material changes, from paper in 1888 (when the straw was first patented by man named Marvin Stone), to plastic in the 1930s. Straws were initially produced for hospitals, as it allowed patients to drink without sitting up – and they only caught on after the 30s after bending straws were in invented and soft drinks and milkshakes took the world by storm. Straws don’t really have a great reputation today, in part because they’re not biodegradable, but also because of their inherent throwaway culture. If you fix the material, design, and culture, you fix the straw… and that’s sort of what the ClickStraw is trying to do. The ClickStraw addresses the inherent flaws of the straws before it. Plastic straws are an environmental hazard, paper straws become soggy, bamboo straws end up developing molds, and metal straws are difficult to clean. Made from high quality and sustainable TPE, the ClickStraw is designed to be used multiple times, and moreover, is easy to maintain. Its hollow, tubular structure can be opened out completely, allowing you to rinse the inner surface of the straw, giving it a deep clean. The ClickStraw’s innovation lies in a ziplock-bag-style snapping fixture and a live-hinge that run along the length of the tube. To clean the straw, slide your thumb in and it opens up. Once you’re done, click it shut like a zip-lock bag and you’ve got yourself a spanking clean straw that doesn’t degrade, get dirty, or worse, corrode like your metal straws. The straw measures a cool 190mm (7.4 inches) in length, and stands at 17.3mm wide (0.6 inches), making it tall enough to fit into LIIT glasses, and wide enough to work with thick shakes and boba teas. The patented snap-fit construction is water-tight, lasts a million open-close cycles, and is safe for children. The TPE material is a clever choice too, given that it handles heat and cold remarkably well, has a neutral smell and taste, and can go right in the dishwasher… and if it ever makes its way into the trash, the ClickStraw can be 100% recycled, leaving absolutely no plastic waste behind! Frank Healey of HELY Hurry, for a limited time only. The ClickStraw is a reusable straw that can be opened lengthways for easier and faster ways to clean than other straws. One Clickstraw can save 600 plastic straws entering oceans and landfills in a year. One of the biggest contributing factors in our ocean waste is single-use plastic. This has led many startups to come up with reusable straws made from materials like silicone, metal, paper and even pasta. However, they’re not the most lucrative alternative to conventional straws as the metal straws can be hazardous while paper and pasta straws tend to get soggy and may taste weird. One of the biggest problems with these straws is that they are difficult to clean, and no matter how many times you wash them with water, there is a chance of some residue getting stuck inside the straw. Furthermore, the straws that come with a cleaning brush aren’t really offering a feasible solution because the brush is often made of plastic and can cause health problems if not replaced regularly. Made from 100% TPE, the ClickStraw can be click opened lengthwise for the cleaning process, so there is no residue left inside for a clean and hygienic straw that is ready to be used again. It is dishwasher safe and suitable for both hot and cold drinks. To ensure that ClickStraws will be recycled and does not end up as plastic waste, the founders are promising a free & lifetime return service. They guarantee that every returned ClickStraw will be re-constructed into secondary plastic and reused in new applications. Hurry, for a limited time only.