Roughly 8.5 billion plastic straws are used in the U.K. each year, but as a new ban takes effect next April, that number will shrink to zero.

　　英国每年大约使用85亿根塑料吸管，但明年四月实施一项新禁令之后，使用吸管的数量就会减少至零。

　　One startup is hoping to corner the market for alternative straws using an unlikely material: pasta.

　　一家初创企业希望用一款另类吸管来垄断市场，这种吸管是用一种难以想象的材料——意大利面制成的。

　　“It ticks all the boxes in terms of functionality as a plastic straw that everyone’s been used to growing up,” says Maxim Gelmann, founder of Stroodles, the startup.

　　“它就像我们成长过程中习惯使用的那种塑料吸管一样，拥有其全部功能，”Stroodles这家初创企业的总裁马克西姆·格尔曼说道。

　　The straws, made by an Italian manufacturer that also produces regular pasta, are the same shape and size as a standard plastic straw.

　　这种吸管是一家意大利生产商生产的，该厂商还生产普通的意大利面。这种吸管的形状和尺寸与标准塑料吸管的相同。

　　Unlike a paper straw, they don’t taste like wet paper; they don’t change the flavor of the drink. They last at least an hour, and longer in colder drinks.

　　它们不像纸质吸管那样，尝起来就像潮湿的纸一样;而且它们也不会改变饮料的味道。它们至少可以持续使用一个小时，如果用来喝冷饮的话，使用的时间会更长一些。

　　“Let’s say you have your gin and tonic and then you refill it with ice, it goes even longer,” Gelmann says.

　　“例如，你要了一杯金酒加汤力水，然后你又加了冰块，这种吸管就可以使用更长时间，”戈尔曼说道。

　　If you’re nursing a drink for hours and the pasta eventually softens, you can choose to eat it (the raw straw is also edible, and Gelmann says that some people snack on them).

　　如果你一杯饮料喝了几个小时，这根意面做的吸管最终会软化，你可以选择吃掉它(未使用的吸管也是可以食用的，而且戈尔曼表示，有人把这种吸管当零食吃了)。

　　A handful of other pasta-straw startups also exist, though Stroodles is hoping to differentiate itself with a smoother, more plastic-like texture and its branding.

　　虽然Stroodles公司希望用更光滑、更像塑料的材质来使其产品和品牌具有差异化，但市面上还有其他几家意面吸管的初创企业。

　　It’s more expensive to make than a plastic straw, but at large volumes, it can compete with the cost of paper straws.

　　生产意面吸管的成本比塑料吸管的要高，但大批量生产的话，其成本与纸质吸管的成本相当。

　　Because of the coming ban, “no one really compares [us] with plastic anymore,” Gelmann says. “They compare [us] with paper straw prices, which makes my argument much easier.”

　　因为即将执行的禁令，“没人再拿‘我们’(的价格)与塑料吸管做比较了，”戈尔曼说道。“他们拿‘我们’的价格与纸质吸管作比较，这使我更容易说服他们。”

　　Other alternatives, like bamboo or stainless steel, are more expensive and arguably a less elegant solution; some bars say that patrons don’t trust the idea that stainless steel straws can be fully sanitized.

　　其他的替代品，例如竹制吸管或不锈钢吸管更贵，而且可以说是一种不那么简单的解决方案;一些酒吧表示，客人们不相信不锈钢吸管能完全清洗干净。

　　Another option—a plastic-like edible straw made from seaweed—may be more of a competitor.

　　另外一种类似塑料的可食用吸管是用海藻制成的，这种吸管也许会是一个强劲的竞争对手。

　　今日词汇

　　pasta ['pæstə]

　　n. 意大利面食

　　Add pasta to your salads to bump up your fibre intake.

　　在色拉中加入意大利面，增加你的纤维摄入量。

　　The Chinese also eat a type of pasta as part of their staple diet.

　　中国人也把一种面食作为他们的主食之一。