Hello, I am Molly Steer, I am nine years old
and I have discovered that straws are really stupid.
A while ago I saw a movie together with my mother:
‘A Plastic Ocean’.
I then heard for the first time that plastic is never broken down
and in fact never disappears.
It was said that in the whole world
oceans become full with our plastic mess.
This plastic in the oceans is dangerous for the marine animals.
And in addition,
if we eat fish and shellfish,
we eat the plastic that they have eaten.
Birds eat small pieces of plastic and then they starve,
because the stomach is so full that no more normal food can be added.
Turtles think plastic bags are jellyfish – their favorite food.
And what about a straw that is stuck in the nose of a turtle?
It is so mean.
When we went home after the movie,
I wondered how I could help.
I thought about those plastic straws.
They look harmless, right?
But did you know that every day
more than 500 million straws are used?
If you would string a chain of it,
then you could wrap them around the earth four times –
every day again!
I thought: we only use those straws for a few minutes
and then they go into the garbage can.
Sometimes you even get several straws with your drink – ridiculous!
The problem: those straws do not always go into the dustbin.
They often come through a well
right in the ocean.
And if they’re thrown in the trash can,
what do you think happens to?
Plastic is not degradable,
so it can never actually disappear.
If my mother says I have to clean up my clothes,
then I know where they belong.
There is a place for that, but plastic can not be ‘cleaned up’.
Did you know that the first plastic straw you ever used,
is still somewhere on the planet? Somewhere.
It is never broken down and it is never ‘cleaned up’.
I knew that when my friends knew about this plastic,
they would also want to help the ocean.
After all, we live in Cairns
and the Great Barrier Reef is our backyard, our playground.
I wanted to help the Great Barrier Reef
and my plan was to get all the plastic straws from the school canteens.
Of course I started with my own school.
Fortunately, all teachers thought my idea very well
and they wanted to help protect our environment.
It was the first school that participated
to the Straw No More (‘no to straws’) project.
I talked to other people about my idea,
such as the newspaper, TV and radio.
Likewise, other schools in the area of Cairns heard about it
and they said they wanted to participate too.
Soon we received messages from people from South Korea,
New Zealand, England, America
and other Australian states.
They also wanted to participate in the Straw No More project with their schools.
I know that there are people who can not move their arms,
people in wheelchairs for example,
and I understand that those people are completely dependent on straws.
They really need straws, but most of us do not.
Not using straws is actually very easy.
You simply have to decide that you stop it.
It’s that simple!
And if you want a straw, take a re-usable straw.
Straws made of bamboo, stainless steel, glass and paper
are much better than that of plastic.
But of course you can also say ‘no to straws’.
If you buy a drink in a store or a café
or, for adults, in a bar,
say ‘without plastic straw’ and explain why.
Ask if they want to participate in the Straw No More project,
so that their customers can see that they are doing something good for the planet.
At this moment sixteen schools are participating in the Straw No More project,
which means that 10,000 children no longer use plastic straws
in their drinks at school, every day.
If each of those children used to use a straw a day,
then there will be a total of three million straws less
go to our environment at the Great Barrier Reef
per year.
But I’m not done yet.
I will continue until the plastic straws have disappeared from every school
in Cairns,
in Queensland,
in Australia
and maybe someday, in the world.
I am Molly Steer and I hope you also think that straws are really stupid!
(Applause)
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