We set out to bring people closer to the ocean through education and awareness - #StopSucking is one way to do that.
Our Mission
Lonely Whale was inspired by the power of creating community so that together we can care for each other and our natural environment and begin to positively impact the health of our ocean. Lonely Whale is both a connector between NGOs, influencers, corporations and policymakers and an incubator for courageous ideas that drive impactful market and policy change on behalf of our ocean. Together, we are working towards a new era of radical collaboration, facilitating the development of innovative ideas that push the boundary on current trends in technology, media, and most importantly, ocean health advocacy.
Why plastic straws?
We already know that plastic bags and soda can rings are bad for the environment and end up in the ocean. Few people realize that straws are among the top 10 items found during beach clean ups and can do so much harm to seabirds, turtles and other marine creatures.
As an item of convenience for the vast majority of us, we believe refusing the single-use plastic straw is the easiest and simplest way for everyone to take action today to address plastic pollution. If we all take the pledge to refuse single-use plastic straws we will see a significant decrease in the number of straws found during coastal cleanups.
We recognize that single use plastics are a necessity for some. Read more about our work with the disability community here.
“The devastation of plastic pollution is not who we are as a global community. Now is the time for us to reflect on our own beauty, our power to affect our environment through individual action. We can address this global crisis with collective action - we’re starting with the plastic straw.”
What We've Achieved so far
- Supported policy change in Seattle which will become the largest metropolitan city to ban the single-use plastic straw in July 2018.
- Permanent removal of 2.3 million single-use plastic straws in our Strawless In Seattle campaign
- Viral, global #StopSucking social media challenge supported by global influencers.
- Engagement by national and regional influencers at SXSW 2017 through installations at Mashable House and
- 100 million+ plastic straws removed in 2017 via a social media proxy pledge.
- The support from and collaboration with 40+ and growing thought leaders, creatives, media platforms and plastic straw-free practitioners.
- Native positing by UpWorthy of the SXSW sucker punch highlights reel, with viewership approaching 700K and reach of 1.9 million.