The BLUE STRAW campaign

The BLUE STRAW campaign continues!

Plastic pollution in the ocean is on everyone’s lips – not just proverbially: those who eat fish these days also consumes decomposing plastic toys, Tupperware and above all: straws. Whilst they are called staws they are made of the same plastic that also makes up beer six-pack rings and lighters. Billions of straws, which are only used for the duration of a drink, will spend 500 years in the ocean. If they do not end in the stomach of a sperm whale first, which will then die a miserable death, or in the nose of a turtle, which suffocates from it. Almost everyone will have seen that video by now. And nonetheless “They are nice and COLOURFUL! They are nice and CHEAP! Is there nothing more important?”

That was the state of mind when we began developing our straw-campaign in 2014. Plastic straws? A problem? For the oceans?

Through our BLUE STRAW campaign we have raised awareness for the problem and have shown alternatives. We have managed to convince so many people through this campaign, that we won the Google Impact Challenge 2016 through your votes.

Since then a lot has happened!

The oceans have received more attention than ever. Today, almost everyone is aware that the oceans are essential for the survival of our planet. It’s not called the BLUE planet for nothing. And now we have the facts: straws aren’t just peanuts. They reach the ocean via rivers and beaches – something we can see during our beach cleaning events at the Elbe every time. These straws make up a vast portion of the plastic soup, which is slowly suffocating our oceans, if we don’t change something.

Worldwide bans are being implemented on single use plastics. (By the way: Germany is, once again, one of the slowest to act…) But what good are these bans, if there are no feasible alternatives?

Thus, the starting idea of the BLUE STRAW campaign was to show that there are alternatives, and WHERE – through an app.

Primarily we were focussing on actual straw, the material straws were made of when they first became popular. Back in 2014 good, suitable, degradable rye straw was still a luxury and a niche product. Nowadays the few pioneers can barely satisfy the high demand fast enough.

Straw is great if there is no way around using straws as single use products that get thrown out immediately. In bars, clubs, cafes, restaurants, hotels and resorts, as well as at home and on the go there are now a multitude of cool and trendy alternatives. Leading the list is glass.

And there are many initiatives that are working strongly towards the goals that soon enough, the last plastic straw will have been used.

DEEPWAVE has made a start with the BLUE STRAW campaign, which is now being developed further in collaboration with other initiatives.

Everyone who knows DEEPWAVE knows, that Onno created and developed the campaign and that, if he had returned on the Monday in October 2016, he would have continued working on it.

We are now doing so for him. And for the oceans.

Your DEEPWAVE Team

Here you can find current information about the campaign.

Alternatives to plastic straws and other single-use items.

More information, background research, movie tips and more can be found at Plastic Pollution.