I was mindlessly scrolling through on Instagram when I saw a video that gave me the chills. A turtle had a plastic straw stuck inside his nose, and someone was pulling it out.
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It pained me to see the turtle in that state, and I was mad at myself. National Geographic stated that around 500 million straws are used a day, with another study estimating that around 8.3 million straws pollute the world’s beaches. I hated that I contributed to that trash. I hated that I once said, “It’s only one straw.” But it’s that one straw that can end up in a poor turtle’s nose, constricting its breathing and slowly killing it. So, after some research, I decided to invest in metal straws.
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I bought a small pack of straws (only $5.99 on Amazon!), and decided to make the change from plastic to metal. The first thing I realized was the transportation of the straws. Because I wasn’t planning on carrying the entire pouch with 9 straws, I put one of them in a plastic bag. That was a mistake. Obviously I see the irony of using a plastic bag in order to not use plastic straws, but at the moment, that is my current solution. I brought my straw in its plastic baggie and brought it to the Lib Cafe.
After getting my iced peach green tea lemonade, I slipped in my straw. At first, I was embarrassed, and I have no idea why. But I stood on line, waiting for my breakfast sandwich, proudly sipping on my metal straw.
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When I sat outside on the tables at Alumni Grove, I saw a lot of people pass by. And many people had metal straws. That made me incredibly happy. I wasn’t the only one who wanted to make a difference, no matter how tiny. I can’t say that I’m going to change the world, but if I can save one more turtle, I will keep moving toward a cleaner future.
Our beaches, our oceans, and our world is so polluted and is slowly deteriorating. It is really up to us to decide how we want to move forward and if we want to make alterations in our lifestyles.
And if bringing a straw in a bag is inconvenient, they sell collapsible straws that can fit on your keychain. It’s small and you would be able to bring it everywhere you go, without the hassle. I know I will definitely invest in one.
It’s so important to realize that this is something that really must change. It might seem really small and something that can easily be tossed aside, but that is exactly the problem. Plastic straws are non-recyclable and mostly end up sitting in beaches or in a sea animal’s body. It is not that hard to clean a reusable straw. We need to stop sitting on our hands.
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Convenience might kill, and that is definitely something that must be changed. Lil Dicky came out with a slightly odd but great video with an awesome message in his new music video, Earth.
Our world is important, and we really do need to start saving it. Because in the wise words of Lil Dicky, “We love the earth, it is our planet.”