When he was nine years old, an American boy called Milo Cress had a question: How many plastic straws (吸管)do Americans use every day?
He quickly learned there wasn't a simple answer. The boy tried to find it out himself. Through lots of research, Cress found out that Americans use about 500 million straws every day. In hopes of cutting down plastic waste, he founded the Be Straw Free project in 2011.
Cress started the project in his hometown Burlington. Vermont. He asked a local restaurant to stop offering straws with every drink order. It was a simple change. However, it would save money. And by doing that, the restaurant would cut down on its straw use by 50 percent.
For the year that followed, Cress tried to spread his project across the United States. More and more restaurants agreed to join. They stop providing the customer with a straw unless he or she asks for one. Last April, Seattle became the first American city to completely ban plastic straws.
After his project became popular, Cress took his findings on the road. He has spoken to tens of thousands of students around the world. He wants to encourage more people to say no to plastic straws.
"Focusing on straws is one simple step we all could take," Cress says. "And it makes me feel that I, as a kid, could make a difference, too."
