06:30, 23 May 2025
Words by Cheyanne Bryan, Editorial and Campaign Marketing Executive, London
“Save the turtles" was a phrase you couldn’t escape if you were chronically online in 2019.
Coming in every direction from teen girls’ mouths as they swung their extra-large reusable travel flasks.
But let’s be real for a moment. We should be saving the turtles. For a little history lesson, the reason this phrase gained so much popularity was because many people were finding out just how much plastic waste and pollution was affecting sealife. With this information thrust into the online zeitgeist, plastic straws became public enemy number one.
But where has this phrase gone? We need to bring it back expeditiously! So here are some ways we can save the turtles that go beyond just switching to reusable straws.
Or any other item. As a turtle saving charity, See Turtles advises, ‘When traveling, ask vendors what souvenirs are made of and when in doubt, don’t purchase items in question.’ This species of turtles is critically endangered and buying their shells or products made from it supports a harmful cycle of illegal poaching.
This is an ethos you can adopt for many animal-based products in your diet. Just how it is better to select free-range eggs rather than eggs made from caged hens, the same discipline applies to fish and meat. Finding out how the fish you eat is caught is very important.
Many commercial and mass fishing methods, such as trawling, longlines, and drift gillnets, can put turtles at risk of becoming unwanted catch. Unfortunately, not every turtle is returned to sea harmlessly and sometimes they can be discarded altogether.
When visiting beaches, especially in coastal areas that have a turtle population, leave the area as you find it, or better. Litter, discarded umbrellas, bottles and other unnatural objects can disrupt the ecosystem and make it harder for the turtles to build their nests on coastlines.
This may be easier (and more fun) for those that live in areas that have local sea turtle habitats. If you are one of these people, contact your local turtle conservation charity and volunteer some of your time to actively help sea turtles. Seeing them in real life may boost your connection with the critters resulting in an increased drive to look after them.
As much as the title of this article suggests that we will be going beyond just switching to reusable straws, I think it is still so important that making the switch to reusable straws benefits far more than just turtles and sea life.
Reusable shopping bags, bottles, pasta containers, straws… the list goes on. These small switches help you out by decreasing the amount of plastic waste you create, but decreases the amount that inevitably finds its way out to sea. A two-for-one deal if you ask me.
At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.
Save the Turtles. This is a grassroots, volunteer-led nonprofit that works to save sea turtles in the Philippines, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua from poachers. Find out more.
See Turtles. This nonprofit organisation protects sea turtles through conservation travel, volunteer tours, as well as educational programmes. Learn more here.
Ocean Cleanup. This is a non-profit organization, developing and scaling technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic. Support them here.
This article aligns with the UN Life below water, Responsible consumption and production.
