November is upon us! As the cooler weather settles in, and the pumpkin spiced beverages make their return, you may want to think twice before accepting a plastic straw. This year we’re celebrating the fifth annual “No Straw November” by saying “no thanks” to straws.

The “No Straw November” movement was started by Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast’s very own Shelby O’Neil, who was inspired by her years of volunteering at The Monterey Bay Aquarium. While developing a plan for her Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award a Girl Scout can earn for creating sustainable and positive change, she sought to eliminate the unnecessary plastic straws that pollute our oceans. Her mission was to launch “No Straw November” in order to bring awareness to the many plastic straws that are used once and then thrown away in a single month. 

This year, Shelby’s non-profit, Jr. Ocean Guardians, focuses on Arctic Awareness as their theme for No Straw November since it is “one environment often overlooked in conversations.”   

Make waves in your own community and take the No Straw November pledge today! Use the hashtag #NoStrawNovember to encourage others to take the pledge with you. All participants of No Straw November are all eligible to receive a limited edition No Straw November Artic Awareness patch. Simply email jroceanguardians@gmail.com a short description and photos of what you’re doing to support No Straw November and this limited edition patch is yours!

If you’re feeling ambitious your troop can earn up to *$75 in program credits by completing the following:

• 1 weekly social media post of your troop taking action for No Straw November. You must tag @girlscoutsccc and @jr.ocean.guardians and use hashtags #NoStrawNovember
• Submitting your troops completed No Straw tracking calendar to program@girlscoutsccc.org (The calendar can be found here)

To learn more about the No Straw November movement or about the Jr. Ocean Guardians visit:
https://www.jroceanguardians.org/no-straw-november

*Program credits will expire February 28, 2022.