For A Strawless Oceancreated by Lonely Whale

For AStrawlessOcean

By 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish (by weight). Plastic straws are just one of many single-use plastics polluting our water and harming marine life. Join the movement.

Take The Pledge See Alternatives
The Problem

A crisis that affects us all

Plastic straws are really bad for the ocean. It's estimated we use over 500 million every day in America — most end up in the ocean, polluting water and killing marine life.

500M
Plastic straws used every single day in America
2050
The year by which there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish, by weight*
99%
Of all sea bird species projected to have ingested plastic by 2050

Most plastic straws are too lightweight to make it through the mechanical recycling sorter — they drop through sorting screens, contaminate recycling loads, or end up as litter, eventually blown into gutters, storm drains, and the ocean. Once there, plastic doesn't biodegrade. It breaks down into microplastics, threatening marine life, contaminating seafood, and showing up in 94% of U.S. tap water.

Learn Why It Matters

The Movement

Download the Toolkit

Get everything you need to start your own Strawless Ocean campaign — posters, social media graphics, a one-page primer, and the full #StopSucking visual identity.

The Social Media Challenge

#StopSucking For A Strawless Ocean

The social media challenge that helped spark a now-global movement. Refuse a plastic straw, post your moment, then challenge a friend, a celebrity, or your favorite restaurant to do the same.

"Did you know humans use 500 million plastic straws a day? Challenge accepted. #StopSucking"

— Adrian Grenier, Lonely Whale Co-Founder

"I pledge to #stopsucking! Will you join me?"

— Sylvia A. Earle, Oceanographer

"I decided to #stopsucking tonight. Y'all should too!"

— Amanda Seyfried, Actor

"It's one thing to personally decide against using straws — it's another thing altogether for a whole business or city to decide to go plastic-straw free."

— Fast Company, on Strawless In Seattle

Join the Challenge

The Media

Featured coverage

For A Strawless Ocean and #StopSucking have been covered by major media outlets and amplified by leading voices in ocean conservation.

Fast Company
"A whole city decides to go plastic-straw free."
National Geographic
Ocean plastic features
The Today Show
#StopSucking national feature
Mashable
SXSW 2017 installation
** A note from Lonely Whale on inclusivity: Lonely Whale's movement For A #StrawlessOcean recognizes and strongly advocates for the needs of our allies in the disability community who require a straw to drink. We are committed to working with our allies in the disability community, politics, and business to ensure that legislation is inclusive, to identify plastic straw alternatives that work for everyone, and to make these alternatives readily available at any establishment, city, or country that has banned the single-use plastic straw.