How a Girl Scout inspired a health care giant to ditch plastic straws

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Most people don’t use plastic straws at home, so why are they so commonplace in restaurants? That was California teenager Shelby O’Neil’s revelation after watching a television spot for her state’s largest health care provider, Dignity Health. She didn’t keep that question to herself, instead composing an email that wound up in the inbox of the organization’s CEO, Lloyd Dean.

“I just thought I’d let them know I appreciated the ad but thought they should know about the dangers of straws,” the 17-year-old told GreenBiz. O’Neil actually spends a lot of her free time worrying, and educating other young people about the single-use plastics problem.

She started a non-profit on Earth Day 2017, the Junior Ocean Guardians, to channel her passion, train other ambassadors and to earn credit toward her Girl Scouts Gold Award — the highest achievement that can be earned by high-school girls that belong to the national organization. O’Neill’s friends are ambassadors, and many are involved in programs in the nearby Monterey Bay Aquarium; Shelby has volunteered more than 340 hours there herself.

Her message was so persuasive that Dean assigned a taskforce to research the problem and potential solutions. […]

Full article: How a Girl Scout inspired a health care giant to ditch plastic straws

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