By Lexi Portner
In the US alone we use about 500 million straws a day. “That’s enough to fill 46,000 big school buses a year,” according to Milo Cress.
Milo has made the reduction of single-use plastic straws a personal mission. The Last Straw is one of eight stories that cover youth activism focusing on sustainability and the environment created by Young Voices for the Planet (YVFP) Founder, Author and Illustrator Lynne Cherry. The mission of Cherry’s organization is to empower young people to make changes that help the environment and mitigate the lasting impact of climate change on our youngest generations. Cherry has long been a proponent of conservation and the importance of civic engagement.
The short film The Last Straw (now screening on the Planet Classroom Network YouTube Channel) focuses on ways to reduce the number of plastic straws we use and throw away each day. We follow Milo Cress on his international speaking tour to bring about positive change. He inspires restaurant owners to implement a policy of asking if people need a straw versus just giving them one. As they point out not only does this benefit the environment but it saves them money. Cress meets with Michael Hancock, The Mayor of Denver, Colorado, and Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont as a couple of stops on his “Be Straw Free!” tour. He launches a website of the same name that encourages people to pledge to be straw-free.
“Skip the Straw” soon catches on. In the second part of the film we meet youth activists Kalea, Meredith, and Sadie in Falmouth as they follow Cress’s lead and spread the message to people in their community around Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard.
I like the way the film was organized to tell the stories of these conscientious kids. I think it could have been more professional, but the use of personal videos and pictures makes the film seem more personal and the message more impactful. The editing assisted in the storytelling, particularly when visually representing the impact single-use plastic has on our environment. There could have been more B-roll to immerse the viewer and enhance the production.
Overall, I enjoyed this film because it shows young people focused on changes that are easy to make that inspire those around them to be better citizens. The audience is young students as they will connect to the change-makers in the film. I would rate it a 3 out of 5 stars as it could have been more informative as to the lasting impacts of single-use plastic. In addition, I think hearing from others in the communities that these changes are being made would have made the film more well-rounded.
Lexi Portner is a senior at Ashland University studying Digital Media Production and is set to graduate in December 2021. She has worked as on-screen talent and crew for news and sports segments on AUTV20 and has been involved in creating content for television, radio, and print publication.
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