Molly Jones is a little girl on a big mission.
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At just eight years old, she spent her school holidays visiting local businesses with a simple message: stop using plastic straws.
The Delroy Park resident has been inspired by the ABC’s War on Waste program and similar campaigns, and is determined to make a change in her local community.
“I started doing this because a girl in Queensland called Molly [Steers, Straw No More] had the same name as me and she was doing it … it was about saving the environment and I wanted to do the same because I love the environment,” Molly said.
“Turtles especially get them stuck up their noses and then it can kill them and then birds can think they’re sticks … it’s really bad for the environment.
“When you go to a cafe, you can just bring your own bamboo or metal straw and then you can take it home with you because they’re reusable and you don’t have to put them in the bin every time.”
In recent months, Molly and her family have also dedicated time once a week to picking up rubbish at the creek and lake in Delroy Park. On Sunday they collected two full garbage bags of litter.
About 500 million plastic straws are used everyday, Molly said, and the first one ever used is still somewhere on the planet.
Molly has lost count of the number of businesses she has talked to about plastic alternatives.
“Well… a lot!” she told the Daily Liberal. “They said ‘we’ll give this to our boss and then we’ll try and get on board with it’, and that made me happy.”
Mum Christine acknowledged many people in the community did need straws, but urged venues to consider limiting their use.
“We know that cafes do need to have some straws available to them, but it’s about maybe just putting it behind the counter so if people don’t see it they can’t grab it,” she suggested. “Then if people need it, they can ask.”
Christine recalls kayaking with husband Dean in the Macquarie Marshes and seeing plastic straws in birds’ nests along the way.
“That just shows that we might not be next to the ocean … but we have an impact being out here in the bush,” she said.
“When you use a straw here it ends up in the river and it travels downstream to places like the Macquarie Marshes.”
She’s very proud of her daughter’s efforts.
“She’s the future,” Christine said. “It’s really great to see her being brave enough to go up and talk to people she doesn’t know.”
For more information on the impact of single-use plastic, and tips for reducing waste, visit www.laststraw.com.au
