Glass Dharma Reusable Straws Review and Giveaway

Giveaway is CLOSED

I admit. I don’t use straws. “Then, why the heck are you reviewing straws?” you say?

Before you click off to read other earthier blogs, let me ‘splain.

Even if I don’t use straws at home and  generally refuse them at restaurants, drinking  a cold root beer float or a thick frothy fruit smoothie seems so much tastier with a straw. And the squealing and shhhlurping sound it makes when you are at the bottom of the drink is a sure sign that you need another one. How else would you know?

Woah, is anyone watching? I can slurp that in one minute flat!

Yum. Root Bear Float courtesy of Sodastream and schhh-lurped by Emily.

OK. Stop staring at the drink and pay attention.

Getting back to the review. My kids hate drinking out of a glass in public, even if they are water glasses so they always ask for the plastic straws if the wait staff don’t automatically offer them.

“What if the waiter grabbed the glass with his hands?” I know. They have issues. I blame it on my mother.

“Excuse me, can I have a straw?“, they’ll say, while I cringe.

So, when I saw @glassdharma pop up on my twitter screen the other day, I jumped in to ask about their glass straws. Now, mind you, when I first thought about the benefit of  reusable straws last year, I was contemplating between fragile glass versus macho stainless steel straws. But then, I thought glass is transparent and I can see if there are any grody green stuff growing in there.  Then, I’d be skeptical of the glass thing because I have a very klutzy family and I’d be spending oodles of money buying them only to replace them the next day! So, I didn’t pursue it.

In addition, I honestly thought, “C’mon. It’s just little straws. How much dent can they make in a overall scheme of things? We got bigger environmental issues we gotta wrestle with.”

Wrong on both counts.

Who cares about little plastic straws?

Maybe it’s because I don’t use them at home. Or may be I don’t count how many I use at restaurants. I mean, I don’t eat out that much so how many can I possibly use to impact the environment? Besides Beth Terry, my Plastic-Free Warrior friend, who would think that straws would contribute that much to the plastic waste?

Apparently, David Leonhardt from Glass Dharma think so too.  He started Glass Dharma when he recognized how much plastic waste can be reduced if people used reusable straws instead of plastic disposable ones. And he’s right.

Picture just my little scenario for a second. Even if I don’t go out to eat that often, when we do go out, there’s four of us. And if we go out, let’s say, once a week – ‘go out’ means ‘take out’s too – that’s four straws a week and sixteen straws a month, and in a year, that’s 16×12 (doing mental math…six times two is twelve…..) … that’s…..that’s 192 straws. Minimum. WOW.

That doesn’t sound like a lot but remember we don’t eat out often. I know, I know, I said that already.

But seriously, if you grab a soda, eat lunch and dinner out, and if there are more people in your family, etc., plastic straws can add up! In addition to the ones I contribute, imagine how many plastic straws are thrown out every day at fast food joints like McDonald’s and Burger Kings alike, world wide!

And if you have wee ones? Forget about it.

Just love those little blue dots on mine. You see the bent one on the right? Classic. You can click the photo for a larger view.

Glass Dharma Straws to the rescue

Well, after tweeting with David about, what else?, plastic, he was nice to send me a set of four glass straws and two cleaning brushes (sold separately but you really need them.) for me to review. And of course, when I received them, I was so excited that I forgot to take a picture of the box that came in. But I’ll tell you, individual straws were in it’s own paper box, packaged in a sturdy cardboard outer box, without any plastic peanuts or extra padding. And they arrived perfectly!

Here is a picture that Beth took when she received hers. She’s much more organized than I am. Thanks for the photo Beth!

And since I’m reviewing the product, I’m suppose to bang, clang, bend, and swing. Right? So, I did exactly what they said NOT to do. I tested them.

But between you and me, you know I had to.  After all, I rather find out now than risk finding out while drinking a strawberry smoothie! And I did it for you to see too. For your peace of mind. I’m nice that way.

Physics Experiment with Glass Dharma

To see how “unbreakable” the straw was, I had to test it to see how it would weather the ‘normalcy’ in my house. So, I dropped a straw from various heights with a vacuum… (I always spell this word incorrectly. 2 “U”s in vacuum and not 2 “C”s!!) I think I have ADD. Where was I?

Oh, yeah. Back to dropping the straw…I dropped it from various heights with my vacuum cleaner on standby.

First, I dropped it from the kitchen counter into my ceramic kitchen sink (because that’s something I would do by accident) and guess what? It did NOT break. Then, I dropped it from underneath the kitchen cabinet onto the kitchen counter (because that’s something Emily would do while taking it out of the cupboard) and it did NOT break. Now, I felt like I was in my college Physics lab and was determined to see some exciting results here! So, I dropped it to my ceramic tile floor while holding it naturally on the side of my body (because now I felt rebellious) and the friggin’ thing did NOT break!!

Can you feel the excitement building up in my head?

So, now, I was like a daredevil. I rolled it off my kitchen table onto the ceramic tiled floor to see it will break. Really. The price I have to pay for reviews.

And……it did. It finally broke. Awwww….I felt bad. Now I’m left with one less straw. Then, I came to my senses. Can you see why I almost failed Physics?

What. was. I. thinking? I mean, it’s glass! Of course, at some point, it’ll brrrreak! Especially after I dropped the poor thing three, THREE times!!! If it didn’t break, I was going to buy the dang company!! But then, I wondered, “Why are they offering LIFETIME GUARANTEE”???

So I emailed the company rep. Cheryl. And guess what? She said, “You are not the only one tempted to “test” the glass.  It is glass.  The GlassDharma Guarantee still applies.” Whaat? She said, she’ll send a replacement right over. Whaaaat?

I was floored, alongside the pieces of glass shards! I couldn’t believe she said that. According to Cheryl,

One day I had one flip out of my pocket book and onto the garage floor and it bounced on the concrete and did not break!  I think the thing that we assume people realize is that though this glass has great strength, surpassing most other glass products, it is glass, and care is required.  The guarantee helps people with the “breakage fear” of investing in something that might/could be breakable.  We are happy to honor it!

Man. Give the lady a drink!

She directed me to the Glass Dharma’s blog for more information and comments from very satisfied customers (with children) and a review by elephantjournal. After reading her reply and the reviews, I was not only relieved about the breakage but so totally SOLD on these! But I have to tell you this disclaimer now.  DO NOT try this at home because this was MY test for the review. If you test them like I did and you break them, your LIFETIME GUARANTEE can be null and void. That’s right. You heard me. These straws are guaranteed from chips and cracks for life but not if you smash it against the wall or let it roll off the table like the way I did to test for the review. You been warned. But, psssst…you know what? If you did break it, I think they’ll send you a new one, between you and me. But shhh…don’t tell them I said that.

What the heck is Glass Dharma made of? Kryptonite?

No, they are not made of Kryptonite but with Borosillicate – sillica and boron oxide – the type of stuff that Pyrex® is made of. So, treat them like you would treat your Pyrex®. Now, their website will tell you that these are microwave and dishwasher proof. I couldn’t test it in the microwave (Mine broke four months ago and haven’t replaced it yet and yes, I don’t miss it.) but if they are made of the same stuff as Pyrex®, they will be safe. And they passed my dishwasher test too.

Glass Dharma Straw Giveaway

Before I tell you about the giveaway, the company also sells these cases for the straws so that they are protected from the ‘elements’ like dust, germs, chips and crack. They are made of hemp. I love this company!

I’d love to give you my Glass Dharma Straw set for the giveaway but you’d have to find me first. Then, you’d have to wrestle me for them.

So…here is the deal. Glass Dharma didn’t want us to wrestle so they offered a gift certificate for $25 for me to give away.  How generous are they? And just in time for Holiday too. What a great stocking stuffer!

To enter the giveaway, leave me an answer to any of the following questions.

1. What country are Glass Dharma Straws manufactured? Hint: you have to visit their website to find out this answer. Hey, you gotta do some work. At least I did the experiment for you.

2. What is the glass made of?

3. What other products would you buy from Glass Dharma with the gift certificate if you won?

Want to follow Glass Dharma on Twitter? That’s an entry too. Just leave a link here.

Oh, if you decide to follow me on Twitter and facebook, those are extra entries too. Just leave me the links here too.

Here are the rules that FTC told me I have to tell you. I know. I hate rules too.

• Please leave the answer in the comment section below to enter.
• Give­away is open to 18 year or older blog subscribers only. If you are not my current subscriber, please subscribe to the blog here. Your e-mail address will NOT be shared with anyone or posted anywhere. But make sure you DO NOT leave your e-mail address with your comment unless you like receiving SPAM from creepy strangers. Only I can see your e-mail address when you fill out the form so do not leave it with your actual comment.
• This giveaway will end at 11:59 PM EST on Friday, December 10, 2010. One win­ner will be cho­sen at ran­dom, gen­er­ated by a random.org, and will be announced on Saturday, December 11, 2010. Please respond within three days after giveaway is closed to claim your gift certificate.
• No pur­chase is nec­es­sary to enter the giveaway.
• There is no limit as to how many times you can enter. Each com­ment is one entry.
• Gift Certificate Value is $25

Good Luck!!