The Inspiring Story of Banned Plastic Straws in Taiwan

This idea started With A 16-Year-Old High School student 

In Taiwan, starting in 2019, single-use plastic straws were no longer be provided to dine-in purchases such as at department stores, fast food outlets and shopping centers. This removes 100 million straws from circulation per year. 

How did they make this possible!? 

A 16-year-old high school student in Taiwan wrote a petition to ban straws on the digital platform vTaiwan, initiated by Audrey Tang, which uses social media patterns for citizens to create digital petitions. Citizens can suggest ideas and share opinions. If 5,000 signatures are brought to the Premier and government ministries - then the petition will be addressed. That is such an amazing system! Her petition to ban plastic straws successfully went through and in 2019 Taiwan banned plastic straws. 

The girl, who did not yet have voting rights, was able to change Taiwan’s rule. It is inspiring. But at the same time we must understand this change couldn’t occur by one person alone. Many people listened to younger voices to support the idea. 

Without the digital platform, maybe this wouldn't have happened. Also without Audrey Tang this couldn’t happen. 

Audrey Tang is Digital Minister of Taiwan and also a free software programmer who is taking an initiative in an open-source software project in which citizens can debate and politicians can listen and take action if necessary. 

When Audrey was younger, she worked as a reverse mentor in the Cabinet in which senior leaders learn from young people and young people point out the directions. Now she is older and is hiring younger people to listen to their opinions to make Taiwan a better place. She believes a lot of the most impactful ideas are coming from younger people and that we all need to cooperate. 

Banning plastic straws is an amazing idea, and without Audrey, her team and every civilians’ help, she couldn’t do it. This proves how teamwork can make a huge impact. 

When I was able to ban glitter in our school (click here for more of the story) I felt great teamwork with everybody in the school. And without our principal, we would not be able to make this happen. I really felt how strong the power can become if we work together.

If you have something in your mind to help the environment you should take action now. Ask your friend to team up and ask adults’ help. We can do this. 

(Side story… Audrey Tang and her team also created the mask maps in Taiwan at the beginning of the pandemic which share real-time data of mask stock in stores. With people’s help, this map was created within three days! That kept Taiwanese people from panicking during the time. That also led Taiwan to one of the most successful mobilizations against Covid-19. This shows how the government and citizens can help each other using the online platform.)