"why is this paper straw likely made of paper and glue in my drink?"

This is the question I asked within the last few months here in California whether it was at Starbucks with my wife or friends or in restaurants. The answer I got was logical which was: "Plastic straws kill animals and birds and don't biodegrade like paper straws do. But, it's also true if you are going to sit around with your drink for an hour or two that the glue in your paper straw likely will unravel which is why people went from the paper straws I grew up with to the plastic ones to begin with.

But, for me, isn't it easier just to ask for another paper straw if your paper straw gets wilty rather than wipe out one bird species or turtle species because they got one of these stuck down their throat or into their eyes maybe thinking it was edible? And also paper biodegrades and turns back into earth much like fallen trees eventually do to. Plastic never really does and even if it turns into little pieces they can still be eaten by creatures of all sizes who never went to school like you and I who have to test something to see if it is food and by then they might be dead with plastic in their eye or throat or in their stomachs. Besides, how much food people eat has little pieces of plastic in it already because there is literally plastic everywhere now. And how many fish you have eaten were filled to the brim with plastic that they ingested from where they were caught. And isn't plastic carcinogenic if eaten or swallowed. Little fish eat little pieces of plastic thinking it might be food that are then eaten by bigger and bigger fish up the chain until you get to something like a big tuna or something. Who is testing for plastic in your food?