Plastic Straws and Tipping Points

Back in 2015, a YouTube video of a sea turtle with a plastic drinking straw embedded in its nostril became the image that the sustainability movement needed. It was the face that launched a thousand plastic straw bans. In many ways, the campaign was a success story — one that elevated our awareness of single-use plastics to the point where it resulted in actual policy change. The anti-plastic straw movement didn’t actually originate with the turtle video.

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Tipping our faith

Tipping_PointThere are little things that can make a big difference. That is the gist of the sub-title of Malcolm Gladwell’s best-selling book, “Tipping Point.” As Gladwell points out, it is the context, the people, the nature of the thing itself, and other factors, which contribute to a tipping point. Merriam-Webster defines “tipping point” as “the critical point in a situation, process, or system beyond which a significant and often unstoppable effect or change takes place.” Continue reading