Every year, on the 4th of December, the world celebrates wildlife conservation day. For our final episode of season one, join Dalal, Vini, James and Joshua as they discuss the power of social media in leading change!
Intro Music Credits: composed by Pooja Maniyeri and Joshua Thomas
Editing Credits: Amaan Shad
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Speaker1: Hey, guys. Welcome back to another episode of the podcast where we discuss the latest topics by you and for you, I'm your host, Joshua, and welcome to today's episode. We're going to be talking about the Save the Turtles movement that went viral in 2019 and is still an ongoing thing right now. Joined with me today we have the lull and James. We also have a creative director, Vinny, who also happens to be an eco rep at a US. Say hi guys. Hi.
Speaker2: Hey, Josh.. Hey, listeners, welcome to another episode.
Speaker3: Hi, everyone.
Speaker1: So does anyone know the difference between a turtle and a tortoise?
Speaker2: Aren't they like the same thing?
Speaker4: This is concerning, how do you guys not know that it's pretty obvious? A tortoise is the one that lives on the land, and the turtle is the one that swims in the water like they're more water based. Tortoise is more land based. What?
Speaker3: The slick forward, great stuff, guys, I swear.
Speaker1: Fuck my God.
Speaker4: Are you serious, you actually didn't know? No. Ok, this is just that. Let's move on before we discover some other things about each other.
Speaker3: But do we say that they're actually not that different? And the important thing here is that they're both being affected by all the environmental changes that are going on, and they're both endangered species.
Speaker2: Oh, that's actually true. I remember seeing a video online about a turtle with a plastic straw up its nose, and it was so sad someone was trying to get it out. But you can see the turtle literally bleeding and crying. So yes, you're right, turtles have more voices really are affected by our own environmental damage.
Speaker3: That is so true in the past few decades, the amount of waste in the oceans has increased so much. You see these videos circulating around every few months on social media about how much waste there is and how all the marine life is being affected. But the sad part is that it is only getting worse.
Speaker4: I remember around two thousand nineteen, this whole thing blew up on TikTok, where there were, quote unquote VSCO girls who are preaching Save the Turtles, don't use plastic straws. And it became a thing. It became a really big thing. It forced a lot of companies coffee shop, fast food shops to adapt and stop using single use plastics, and I think the biggest part of the movement was plastic straws. Coffee shops and restaurants have switched to using paper straws instead of plastic straws, which are easier to be degraded into the environment and caused less damage, which is really impressive and really good. And it's one step towards change. It's not everything, but it's something.
Speaker1: But it's a step in the right direction, I guess, so
Speaker4: Definitely, and I know a lot of people complain about using paper straws. A lot of people hate them personally. I'm one of those people. I don't like paper straws. I'd rather just not use a straw. I just feel like they're not yet made to their full potential. They could be engineered better because from my experience, they usually just fade away in a few seconds. It's not just the paper shows I use. They get super soggy and weird.
Speaker2: Now I relate to you, I feel like using paper straws is kind of out of place, especially if you're a slow drinker. You know, there's enough time for the for the paper to get all soggy and weird. But that's actually the amazing thing is that I know this that this movement that you're talking about save the turtles. It really did make an impact. And even having me reconsider the way that I think, I think that it definitely was an effective campaign. And it's crazy to think how it started all online.
Speaker3: I agree. But I think the new alternative of metal straws is not that bad. Have any of you use a metal straw?
Speaker4: I actually did. In senior year of high school, I bought a bunch of metal straws. I gave them out to my friends. They were the cool kind of fold and you can hang them on your keychain. And while it was so trendy at the time to use a metal straw, it just wasn't practical. It was so, so hard to clean, and I felt like it was collecting all this dirt and disgusting material. It was a breeding ground for bacteria and diseases, so I had to get rid of it. And I just think that it was not the most practical decision either. I think the best option is just not to use a straw. You don't need a strong
Speaker1: You just drink it straight from the cupcakes. Come on.
Speaker4: Yeah, it's really not that the.
Speaker3: Yeah, I agree with your points of finding alternatives is actually pretty hard, which is why plastic straws are still pretty prevalent wherever you go. It's just so convenient, but the bottom line is that if we actually try to remove them and get into the habit of it, it won't be that hard. Like, I prefer not to use straws at all like you guys mentioned, so it works out eventually.
Speaker4: I think the coolest thing about all of this is that I didn't know metal straws existed until I found them on Tik Tok. Social media was definitely something that really impacted the movement as a whole, and it really amplified it. It made it more common. People knew about it. People learned about the negatives of using single use plastics so easily because it was a trend to do it. So I think that's a really cool thing. It was on TikTok as well, which is one of the earliest I think TikTok trends that blew up was save the turtles, if I'm correct.
Speaker1: Yeah, I remember hearing about that from friends and all, even though I'm not picked up by members, I could blow up back in 2019.
Speaker2: Yeah, Josh, I mean, it wasn't just on TikTok alone, it was literally everywhere it was on YouTube, it was on Twitter, Instagram, it blew up on the internet. And I think that just shows like the power social media or even the internet has been kind of moving worthy causes forward because I remember literally seeing celebrities influencers popping on to this kind of trend or this campaign, this movement and really bringing attention to it. Have you guys remembered seeing any famous people talk about this?
Speaker4: I do remember Chris Hemsworth or Thor really advocated for it because he's one of those celebrities who is super into the environment and protecting the ocean. He definitely posted about it and so did Leonardo DiCaprio. Both of them are very active environmentalists.
Speaker3: Yeah, and this is the good part about social media. I mean, it was not just the save the children's movement tried in the past year. Ever since the pandemic started, we have seen so many different movements come up on Instagram and TikTok, and if not anything else, they have at least made people more aware and educated people on social causes and issues that matter. So it really shows how much the media has in today's world.
Speaker2: That is so true, Vinnie, I think you mentioned about information and raising awareness to certain causes and social media, and the internet definitely has a role in that. But I think more than just that, there this sort of element where there's multiple people advocating and I guess it's almost peer pressure, but the positive kind where you just can't help but jump onto the bandwagon and kind of support these causes too. So more than just information, I think the whole persuading people to care, it's a big factor as well.
Speaker3: Yeah, that's so true, and to add on that as a movement gets bigger and bigger, it pushes corporations and even the government at times to change their their laws and actually look at these issues and take some practical measures to improve them.
Speaker4: I think it's important to note that we are not taking credit for, say, the turtles movement. It wasn't something that Gen Z started, it was something that was ongoing way before that. I think it started in around two thousand one by a lot of environmental activists and environmental organizations. However, it really did blow up because of Gen Z or. It was revived in a way through Gen Z on social media, and I think that that's something that's very, very cool. I believe that there was a species of turtle that was endangered, but after the movement kind of blew up and Gen Z was really involved, it no longer became endangered. I'm not sure, though. Does anyone know?
Speaker1: Yeah, it was the green sea turtle that after the movement blew up, they lowered them from endangered to threatened in Florida and Mexico, which is a step in the right direction again.
Speaker2: It's actually amazing to see these effects take place in the real world when it started in an online space and more than just saving the turtles that, like you mentioned. Joshua. There were actually big changes made in terms of laws and regulations as well. Several countries around the world have passed kind of laws that prohibit or restrict the use of plastic straws, and now he'd go to any restaurant. You will see that it is different from the way it was before. Now, instead of just plastic straws available and given out kind of easily, now you will see that corporations itself are sort of trying to. Are trying to pivot from that as well.
Speaker3: On that note, it's I would like to mention that AUC also has a single use plastic ban, so a few years ago, all plastic water bottles that were below five hundred milliliters of water had been banned on campus. So that's also like you can even see universities and students taking steps in the right direction.
Speaker4: Yeah, I do remember my first year at university. The first semester, most of the grocery outlets and the food outlets were supplying students with single use plastics and cutlery. And then the second semester, it was gone. You couldn't get them, and they even switched to paper bags in the grocery stores instead of plastic bags, which is an amazing step towards change. And I'm really proud of us and our university for that. Isn't it so cool how something that was a meme turned into an impactful movement? I just think that that again goes into the power that Gen Z has on the world and something so simple, like a post on Twitter, Tik Tok, Instagram, Snapchat, wherever it is, can have such great impact on people's lives. And that's the coolest part about social media. For me, it really makes me feel heard. It makes me feel empowered. I feel like I have a say in this world and especially something like the environment. The environment is something that we all are going to pay the consequences for. We all live on the same planet, we all breathe the same air, so it's important that we all care about the environment.
Speaker2: Below, when you mentioned that being able to voice your thoughts and what you support in the digital space empowered you. I think that is something that is so important, especially for our generation right now. I mean, sure, it would be amazing if each and every one of us can attend protests can directly move the environment that we're in to kind of support the causes we want. But the truth is, not everything has to be big. You know, sometimes it's kind of tweeting about something or raising awareness to it online. It's us doing our part and, as you mentioned, very empowering as well.
Speaker4: I also remember at the time there were a lot of petitions that people were passing around online for people to sign that were focused on pressuring large companies to stop using single use plastics to approach more sustainable ways of producing their products. And I do remember signing a couple of them. Did you guys sign any of these petitions when they were going around?
Speaker3: I think I did. There have been a lot in the past couple of years. Again, it surprises me how a single person in one part of the world can create a petition and gain the support from everywhere else, which is something that was really not possible a few decades ago. So it's just also empowering to see how we have used technology to do its best potential. I wouldn't say best, but like we have really used it to create an impact.
Speaker2: It's super accessible. Video Like you mentioned, it's so easy to just share a link to your friends and have them sign a petition as well. But even in disseminating information, you know, I'm actually able to go on YouTube and watch a video explaining the benefits of using reusable straws, for instance. And that sort of information is not easily available in the past without the help of the internet.
Speaker4: One of the biggest things about these movements is previously people didn't feel like they were able to participate in them because of their geographic location, because of limitations on their money, blah blah blah. Now, the internet kind of eliminates these problems. You can participate from the comfort of your home through your phone. You don't have to donate. You can share the link. Like James said, you can watch a video help it get viral. So other people who might be able to help can see it and push the content out there. And that's the beauty of the internet. It's so global in a sense that anyone around the world can participate and be an active member in our global society.
Speaker3: So because the internet is accessible and global space, it has a lot of diversity in its views as well. It's not just a community where everyone agrees with each other. Rather, people build up on the points that are brought up, and they bring in opposing and views that sometimes clash, but they help people grow and expand their mindset.
Speaker4: Then you personally, do you think that plastic straws are better than metal straws? Which side of the spectrum do you feel like you belong on?
Speaker3: I don't think I fall on either side because I don't use metal straws regularly, but I don't use plastic ones either. I think I'm just no strong kind of person.
Speaker4: I agree. I think if if it were to come down to it, no straws is the best. But I feel like. The biggest part of this campaign was focusing on the straws. I think it's important to also focus on other types of single use plastics as well. There is a lot of excess plastic that we use. So is it really necessary to have 50 lids on one drink or that much plastic wrap around your takeaway? There's definitely more sustainable options that we can be using or just reducing the use of single plastics in general.
Speaker1: Yeah, I don't think it's necessary all the time, like you get certain fast food chains that use paper bags that use paper to wrap their food in and give it to you, you find places that use metal lids instead of plastic lids on their drinks to to cover them. So there's those are all steps in the right direction again, but it's not common yet.
Speaker4: Actually, according to the U.N., even though plastic straws are kind of like the main part of this trend, the only contribute to like zero point zero twenty five percent of all the plastic waste that is in the ocean, which is insane. That's crazy. Well, maybe we should stop focusing on the straws and just start focusing on our behavior in general.
Speaker2: Yeah, that's a good point. The law. But at the same time, if you think about it from, I guess, a marketing point of view, it's easier to get people to agree to stop using straws, for instance, because it's very. Well, you can immediately see how you can reduce your plastic usage by stopping the use of straws. But I think and the most important part with this is that we don't make it in just there. We have to use this as sort of a gateway to introduce us into this idea of reducing our plastic usage overall. So definitely, we can't just stop at plastic straws and we have to venture outside as well.
Speaker4: I think what we should do is just to check ourselves and really think, is it necessary for all of this plastic that we're using on everyday basis? For example, when you go to get your morning coffee, bring your own cup, it doesn't harm its safety a couple of terms as well. I know a lot of coffee shops out there to give you a discount if you provide your own cup and. You're benefiting from it, the environment is benefiting from it, everyone's benefiting from it. So there are small things like this that can be done to help reduce the amount of plastic that we consume. When you go shopping to the supermarket to get groceries, bring your own bag. It's just an extra step that you take, but it makes the biggest difference, I promise.
Speaker1: Yeah, that's a great point to made, and like, for example, when I go grocery shopping and stuff, I most of the times I use my iOS tote bag, which you guys can get now from me. Yes.
Speaker3: Oh yeah. We have a couple of games coming up, a couple of events and giveaways coming up in which you get a chance to win the sustainability flask, the tote bag and a couple of other things to keep your eyes out for that.
Speaker1: We've discussed a lot about how social media has affected this movement and how social media has brought more awareness. But I think at the end of the day, we need to sit and think about the ways that we are contributing to this problem, and we need to think about how we can change our own behavior at the end of the day. And that brings us to the end of this episode, I hope you guys enjoyed. I love discussing this topic with all of you guys today. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at TV. Gen-z underscore and keep sipping green tea with Gen Z. Bye, guys. Bye bye, guys. My my.