People Stories

How a Girl Scout inspired a health care giant to ditch plastic straws

Photo: Shutterstock

Most people don’t use plastic straws at home, so why are they so commonplace in restaurants? That was California teenager Shelby O’Neil’s revelation after watching a television spot for her state’s largest health care provider, Dignity Health. She didn’t keep that question to herself, instead composing an email that wound up in the inbox of the organization’s CEO, Lloyd Dean.

Shelby O’Neil, Junior Ocean Guardians

“I just thought I’d let them know I appreciated the ad but thought they should know about the dangers of straws,” the 17-year-old told GreenBiz. O’Neil actually spends a lot of her free time worrying, and educating other young people about the single-use plastics problem.

She started a non-profit on Earth Day 2017, the Junior Ocean Guardians, to channel her passion, train other ambassadors and to earn credit toward her Girl Scouts Gold Award — the highest achievement that can be earned by high-school girls that belong to the national organization. O’Neill’s friends are ambassadors, and many are involved in programs in the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium; Shelby has volunteered more than 340 hours there herself.

Her message was so persuasive that Dean assigned a taskforce to research the problem and potential solutions. […]

More about plastic and water:

Water Warriors and Other People Stories

Summary
Article Name
How a Girl Scout inspired a health care giant to ditch plastic straws
Description
Most people don't use plastic straws at home, so why are they so commonplace in restaurants? That was teenager Shelby O'Neil's revelation after watching a television spot for health care provider Dignity Health. She composed an email that wound up in the inbox of the organization's CEO, Lloyd Dean...
Author
Publisher Name
GreenBiz
Publisher Logo

Recent Posts

LA River restoration connects us back to ‘the life force of our city’

Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…

2 days ago

LAist: New study raises questions about heavy metals in fire retardants

Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…

2 days ago

Meadow and watershed restoration in the Golden Trout Wilderness

Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…

3 days ago

First sighting of salmon in 100 years marks key milestone for California dam removal

For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…

1 week ago

Developing state water roadmaps is essential

New turnout facility from the California Aqueduct on Monday, Oct. 23, 2023. Officials say the…

2 weeks ago

Migration Matters: Breaking Down Barriers to Migration

Over the past century, humans have constructed major transportation infrastructure like highways, bridges, railroads, and…

3 weeks ago