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April 26 is World Intellectual Property Day—a day to learn about the role that intellectual property (IP) rights play in encouraging innovation and creativity.

Experts develop vaccines to protect us from viruses, bacteria and diseases. Vaccines have successfully lowered infection rates in countries with strong vaccination programs. Some diseases—such as polio, rubella and diphtheria—are now rarely seen in Canada because of long-term, high rates of vaccination in the population.

Drinking straws have been around in some shape or form for thousands of years. How long, exactly? Archeological evidence suggests that Sumerian kings and Egyptian pharaohs used gold straws to drink beer.

Common folk have also been using straws for ages, albeit a humbler variety. These were originally made with reeds, then with paper at the end of the 19th century and with plastic since the 1960s.

While the plastic straw has ruled the drinking straw world for over half a century now, it is slowly being dethroned by its more decomposable predecessor, the paper straw.

Let’s look at how Canadians were using plastic drinking straws before the pandemic.

The pandemic has posed tremendous challenges to volunteer organizations, given the repeated lockdowns and re-openings during the various waves of infection.  Particularly challenging is that seniors—Canada’s most dedicated volunteers in terms of hours committed⁠—were also among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.

Although plastic in some form has been around for over 150 years, plastic production and usage took off in the sixties as countries around the world embraced the adaptability, strength, durability and affordability of this new wonder material.

The strength of plastic, however, has become its greatest downfall since it takes anywhere from 50 to 200 years for most types of plastic to break down and decompose.