Plastic Straws and Turtles
Plastic straws and turtles are two things I have become hyper aware of in the last several years. It all started with a TikTok, believe it or not, of someone making a funny video about wearing a green shirt and buying metal straws to support the turtles. What started as a joke about single handedly saving the turtles everytime I used a metal straw, grew into something more serious. I am by no means living a minimal waste life or actively saving the environment every hour of the day, but I have found that living more environmentally conscious often comes down to nothing more than thought patterns.
“What difference can I even make?”
We’re often tempted to think that the problem of waste, microplastics, fast fashion, and pollution are all too huge to even do anything about them. We wonder if these problems may be less about the individual and more about large corporations. We ask the question, “what difference can I even make?” That question is valid and the fact is, pollution and waste are huge problems that will take immense efforts by millions of people to change or even slow. But we don’t need to talk about that now. We’re here to talk about plastic straws and turtles.
Because using metal straws became a joke about saving the turtles, I began to really think about every time I used a plastic straw instead of a metal one. I knew that my tiny effort was hardly making a dent in the pollution problem, but I soon started noticing other things. Like how often plasticware appeared at gatherings and how I would quickly throw out my slightly dirty plastic plate for a clean one. Or how easy it was to lose my plastic cup because I could just grab another one, or how convenient it was to pick up a couple bottled waters from the gas station on a long road trip. Or how I’d search out a plastic straw for my drink when I could just as easily have enjoyed it without one. How the vegetables I bought came wrapped individually in plastic for no apparent reason or how often I would ask for a plastic bag when I could have carried my purchases without one.
It was nothing but a joke at first. Something to laugh at because of course, that one time I used my dusty metal straw instead of a plastic one, could surely not make a difference for the entire environment.
“It was never about the plastic straws or the turtles.”
Or could it? It was never about the plastic straws or the turtles. It was always about thought patterns and the cumulative effect of a lifestyle.
About the Author
Tina calls Northwestern Pennsylvania her home where she enjoys spending quality time with loved ones, reading captivating and educational books, spending time in coffee shops, and occasionally engaging in an active lifestyle via biking, rock climbing, hiking, and running. She values the power of words and loves to see writing change and impact lives. If you’d like to contact her directly, you can reach her at tina.thesimpledesignco@gmail.com.
