Why Glass
Why we make our straws from glass.
Plastic straws are used once and gone. Metal hides whatever is inside. Glass is the one you can watch come clean, taste nothing through, and keep for years. Here is the case for making the switch.
The problem
Single-use straws add up fast.
Most straws are used for a few minutes and then thrown away. They collect in landfills and waterways, and they do not really break down. A reusable straw solves that at the source. You buy one, you keep it, and you stop tossing the rest.
5
Minutes
Used
200
Years
In Landfield
The bigger picture
Small straw, big footprint.
Plastic straws are among the most common pieces of litter pulled from beaches and oceans. They are too light and small for most recycling facilities to handle, so they slip through and drift into waterways.
Once there, they break into smaller and smaller microplastics that never fully disappear, and they put sea turtles, seabirds, and fish at risk when they are mistaken for food. One reusable straw keeps a steady stream of them out of the water for good. Small on its own, but millions of people choosing the same thing is not small at all.
Glass vs. the rest
How glass stacks up.
Glass | Plastic | Metal | |
|---|---|---|---|
101236 | |||
101237 | |||
101238 | |||
101239 | |||
101240 | |||
101241 | |||
101242 |
Built to last
Strengthened by fire, not fragile.
The biggest worry with glass is breaking. Ours is built to answer it. Each straw is treated through ion exchange in our furnace at Alfred University, a process that swaps ions at the glass surface and puts it under compression. That compressed outer layer is what gives the straw its strength, so it resists chips and cracks far better than ordinary glass and holds up to daily use and cleaning.
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Compressed outer layer, added strength from the heat treatment
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Clear glass core
For restaurants & cafés
A game changer behind the bar.
For a café or restaurant, switching to reusable glass is not just a feel-good move. It changes how you stock, how you spend, and how guests see you.
Stop reordering forever
Instead of buying box after box of plastic straws, a set of glass straws gets washed and reused shift after shift. You buy once and you are set.
A greener brand guests notice
Serving drinks with a real glass straw quietly tells guests you care. Eco-minded diners remember the places that get the small things right.
Built for a busy service
Lab-strengthened to handle the dish pit and constant daily use, not the flimsy glass you would worry about dropping mid-rush.
Make them yours
Engrave straws with your name or logo for a branded touch at the table, and order in bulk at partner pricing built for venues.
One straw you keep takes the place of hundreds you would have used once and thrown away.
That is a real dent in plastic waste from one small switch, repeated every day you reach for it instead of a disposable.
Made by students
Designed and finished on campus.
Alfred Glassworks is a student-run venture inside Alfred University's Institute for Experiential Entrepreneurship. It began with one student, Aiden LaCourse, and a simple idea: a straw you keep instead of throw away.
Today a student team designs, strengthens, and finishes every straw right here in Alfred, New York. When you buy one, you are backing student makers and a smaller-waste habit at the same time.
Ready to make the switch?
Pick up a straw that lasts, in clear or engraved. One small change you will actually keep using.