Living on the doorstep of the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, Queensland, 10-year-old Molly Steer has seen first-hand the impact of plastic pollution on the marine life that she adores.

Deeply passionate about the subject, Molly Steer was inspired to make change happen on a school-wide level after watching the documentary film A Plastic Ocean, which explores the fragile state of the oceans and the alarming truths about plastic pollution.

Molly Steer asked her Principal if the school’s tuckshop could stop using plastic straws. Her Principal agreed and had plastic straws removed entirely from the school, a move that even inspired surrounding schools to follow suit.

Her second environmental action soon followed, when last year she launched the initiative Straw No More Project, which implores individuals, businesses and schools to take a pledge to not only ditch plastic straws, but to educate students, customers, peers, friends or family about the grave impacts of plastic straw…