n October of 2016, One More Generation (http://onemoregeneration.org/) founders Olivia (14) and her brother Carter (15)
launched their global OneLessStraw Pledge Campaign (https://onelessstraw.org/) in an effort to help clean up our environment and educate people on the harms of using single use plastic straws.
Some interesting facts: Did you know that in America, we are using an estimated 500,000,000 plastic straws every single day? That is the equivalent to 1.6 straws for every man, woman and child living in this country every single day. If you were to take an entire day's worth of plastic straws, they would fill up over 127 school busses. That’s over 46,400 school buses full of one-time use plastic straws that are ending up in our landfills and waterways every year. Sick, isn't it?
Since the launch of the campaign, we have had over 2,500 people from over 30 countries around the world sign our on-line pledge form stating that “they promise not to use a single use plastic straw for at least 30-days”.
Over 150 partners from around the world have also joined their OneLessStraw Partners Page (http://onemoregeneration.org/onelessstraw-partners/) and helped to share their initiative with their fans. We have had schools, restaurants, resorts and even zoos and aquariums sign-on showing their support for this important issue. If your organization would like to be listed as a partner, just email us your logo and website link you want associated with the logo for consideration.
Olivia and Carter realized that reducing our plastic footprint could be very easy to do; we just need to say 'NO' to single-use plastics such as straws. And to encourage everyone to stop using single use plastic straws, we have partnered with the folks at Simply Straws, (http://simplystraws.com/) who has a great offer: they will send everyone who signs our OneLessStraw pledge (https://onelessstraw.org/individuals-signup) a coupon for a free glass reusable drinking straw (excluding postage) to help them stay plastic straw free forever.
We are asking schools across the nation and even in select countries to have their students participate in the program. Schools signing on (https://onelessstraw.org/school-signup) are listed as partners on our Partners Page and on our interactive Google map.
Students are then given the opportunity to sign the pledge stating they promise not to use a single plastic straw for at least 30-days. Students are also encouraged to speak with their favorite restaurant (https://onelessstraw.org/business-signup) and ask them to participate by signing a pledge stating they promise to only hand out straws upon request for 30-days. We even have cool campaign buttons for servers to wear which helps explain the campaign to their customers.
If you have a school/district or restaurant you would like to speak with about taking the pledge, just email us ([email protected]) and we will help you work out the details.
The OneLessStraw.org website has lots of resources (http://onemoregeneration.org/onelessstraw-resources/) and a cool interactive Google map which will tracks the progress of the campaign around the country and even around the world.
Empowering Youth Can Save Our Oceans
i
SEVENSEAS
junior
FOR YOUNG CONSERVATIONISTS
March 2017 - Ocean Literacy
130 - SEVENSEAS