“Skip the plastic straw. Save a sea turtle.”

Chloe Mei Espinosa is only 12 years old, but she’s found a way to make a big impact on an issue she holds dear.

Last year, the then sixth-grader founded the ‘Skip the Plastic Straw’ campaign as part of a “passion project” for school. As part of her project, Espinosa researched the harm done by single-use plastic straws and created the website www.skiptheplasticstraw.com to share what she learned and encourage others to help in her quest to protect marine life.

Chloe Mei, an ocean enthusiast, shares on her website that she noticed the majority of trash she would collect with her family on “beach cleanups” was single-use plastics like bottles, bottle caps, and plastic straws.

“Plastic straws don’t fully biodegrade, meaning they never completely break down. Plastic straws break down into small pieces which could then be ingested by marine life, specifically small.”

She would go on to crush her goal of hundreds of pledges by getting her entire school district (32 schools) to ditch plastic straws and even look at moving to fully bio-degradable cutlery in the future.

Congratulations to a young activist making an impact!

To learn more about Chloe Mei’s campaign check out her website: www.skiptheplasticstraw.com and watch the video below: