Straw no more | Molly Steer | TEDxJCUCairns

Nine year-old Molly saw the damage that disposable plastics do to the ocean, and knew she had to do something. So, with ambition, she set about convincing schools to remove single use plastic straws from their tuck shops and launched the Straw no More campaign which is gaining momentum. How can we stop plastic straw and plastic in general to harm our wildlife, and start to care more about our planet? The answer is very simple.

Molly Steer is nine years old and is in 4th grade at school in Cairns. When she isn't trying to remove plastics from the ocean, she enjoys dancing, swimming and spending time with her family.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Hi, my name is Molly Steer
and I'm nine years old,

and I've just found out
that straws really do suck.

Earlier this year, my mom and I
went to see a movie

called "A Plastic Ocean."

It was the first time that I've been told
that plastic never ever breaks down,

but actually never goes away.

The movie said
that all over the world

oceans are filling up
with our plastic rubbish.

This plastic gets into our oceans
and hurts the marine animals.

But not only that,

when humans eat fish and seafood,

we are eating the plastic
that they have eaten.

Birds are eating broken up
bits of plastic and then starving

because there's no room
left in their stomachs for real food.

Turtles think that plastic bags
are jellyfish which is their favorite food.

And we've all seen that plastic straws
stacked up on poor turtles' nose.

It's not fair.

On my way home from watching
the movie that night,

I started thinking
about what I could do to help.

I started thinking about plastic straws.

They seem kind of harmless, don't they?

But did you know, every day,

humans use more
than 500 million straws?

If you wind these up, end to end,

that would wrap around
planet Earth four times,

every single day.

I thought about how we only use
these plastic straws for a few minutes

before we throw them in the bin.

And what about the drinks
that come with more than one straw?

It's crazy!

The problem is: they
don't always go in the bin.

They often end up
in the storm water drains

and go to the ocean.

And even if the straws
do make it to the bin, what then?

What do you think happens to them,
once we throw them in the bin?

As I said before,
plastic can't break down,

so can't actually ever go "away."

You see, when my mom tells me
to put my clothes "away,"

I know where they go.

They have a place to go,
but with plastic there is no "away."

Did you know that the very
first plastic straw you've ever used

is still somewhere on this planet?

Somewhere.

It will never break down
and it will never go "away."

I knew that if my friends
knew about all this plastic,

they all would help the ocean, too.

After all, we live in Cairns,

and the Great Barrier Reef
is our backyard ; it's our playground.

I wanted to help the Great Barrier Reef,

so I decided to try to get plastic straws
out of canteens of local schools.

And of course, the first school
to start with was my own school.

I felt really happy that all the teachers
at my school were so supportive of my idea

and content to help
protect our environment.

They were the first school to join in
with the Straw No More project.

I then started talking
to other people about my idea,

including the newspaper,
TV and radio stations.

Because of this, other schools
from around Cairns heard about it,

and said they wanted to join in too.

Soon, we had messages
from people in South Korea,

New Zealand,
England and America,

as well as some other states in Australia,

who wanted their schools to join in
with the Straw No More project.

Now, I know there're some people
with limited movement of their arms,

people in wheelchairs, for example,

and I understand those people
really rely on straws.

They need to use straws,
but most of us don't.

Living straw free
is actually really simple.

All you need to do
is make the decision to stop.

Simple!

And if you must use straws,
you can make sure it's a reusable straw.

Bamboo, stainless steel,
glass and paper straws

are much better alternatives
than plastic straws.

Of course, you can just say,
"No to straws" altogether.

When you buy a drink
at the take away shop or cafe,

or a bar if you're a grownup,

specifically ask for "no plastic straw"
and tell the staff member why,

ask them to join in
with the Straw No More project

as well as showing their customers
they care about our planet.

Currently, 16 schools have agreed
to take the Straw No More project,

which is about 10,000 kids
not using plastic straws,

in their drinks, at school, every day.

If each one of this kids was previously
using just one straw a day,

that means a total
of three million less straws

are going into our environment
near to the Great Barrier Reef

each year.

But my job isn't done yet.

I'm going to keep going until plastic
straws are out of every school

in Cairns,

in Queensland,

in Australia,

and maybe one day, in the world.

My name is Molly Steer and I hope
you'll agree, that straws really do suck!

(Applause)