About Me | Skip the Plastic Straw

Hi! My name is Chloe Mei and I am a freshman in college. I am the founder of the Skip the Plastic Straw campaign, and I'm ready to bring it to the next level.

I started my campaign in sixth grade, from a Passion Project that my class participated in. A Passion Project is a project in which each student chooses whatever they want: make a sketch book, bake a cake, start a pen pal.

For my Passion Project, I chose to campaign against the use of single-use plastic straws, and I built this website in April 2018 to start.

I know it may seem ridiculous to get rid of single-use plastic straws, but our oceans need our help NOW and nothing is impossible!

My first goal was to get 500 people to take the pledge and stop using single-use plastic straws. (I reached that goal in May 2018!) Since my campaign started, I am proud to say that I have convinced 245 schools, an outdoor science institute and two hospitals in Orange County, USA to join me to remove 15 million plastic straws from their cafeterias!

I am excited to take on new projects that can help spread the Skip the Plastic Straw message. Check out my blog to see the projects I have and are working on.

All the research on this website was done by me to further my project, and you can help me too by taking the pledge and by printing out Skip the Plastic Straw restaurant flyer to hand out to your favorite restaurants.

I am so honored to have appeared on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" and in a feature on the NBC Los Angeles News and Spectrum News Los Angeles, These have allowed me to share my campaign and spread the word.

Join me to stop the use of single-use plastic straws. Let's save the ocean planet together!

I hope you will support my campaign and follow me on Instagram!

Ella Lin Espinosa

Founder of Recycling for Nature Initiative

Co-founder of Skip the Plastic Straw

Hi, my name is Ella Lin, and I am a 11th grader. I am the founder of Recycling for Nature Initiative and the co-founder/speaker of Skip the Plastic Straw. I work very closely with my sister Chloe Mei. We are both avid scuba divers and we care passionately about protecting our environment.

My sixth grade research project was focused on recycling, as I was curious to understand what recycling was all about and how it can help our environment. I founded Recycling for Nature Initiative and organized seven Recycling for Nature Projects and have recycled 28,595 plastic bottles and cans and helped raised $2,020 so far, which we have donated to local conservation organizations since March 2021.

During the pandemic, my sister and I created and co-founded Skip the Plastic Straw YouTube Channel, as The Sustainable Sisters, to share information and ways we can all help protect our environment. We also promote eco-friendly brands that are doing good for our environment. We hope you will subscribe to our channel!

For Earth month 2022, we were so honored to be invited by NIKE to produce an Earth Day Episode for NIKE's YouTube Channel, which has close to 2 million views! Click here to watch!

We regularly partner with schools and youth organizations to present to kids and adults about the harmful effects of single-use plastics, specifically straws.

We are so honored to have served as judges for The Redford Center Stories Environmental Film Challenge and to be selected to be on Captain Planet Foundation's Inaugural Wisdom Council!

Together, we hope to achieve more and get the message out to as many youths and adults to join us to Skip the Plastic Straw and to do good for our environment!