"Small Actions, Big Impact"
Nicolina's Turtle Co. was started in 2019 by Nicolina Pappas when she was 8 years old, as a way to reduce single-use plastic. What began with Nicolina sewing straw pouches to sell with metal straws to raise over $30K for conservation efforts, has evolved to a 501(3)c with a mission of conservation education and advocacy.
.jpeg/:/cr=t:9.64%25,l:0%25,w:100%25,h:73.87%25/rs=w:1179,h:590,cg:true)
Promoting Everyday Environmental Action
We encourage individuals, especially young people, to take small yet meaningful steps to protect the environment—such as reducing waste, choosing reusable materials, and participating in local clean-up efforts. These simple habits, when adopted by many, significantly improve ecological health and community sustainability. To-date, Nicolina's Turtle Co. has educated over 4,500 Youth Skip the Plastic Ambassadors in order to reduce single-use plastic with their own actions while teaching others to do the same.
Skip the Plastic Campaign
April 1st is Skip the Plastic Day! On this day (and really every day, right?), everyone is encouraged to just say no to plastic. Restaurants are also encouraged to adopt an upon-request policy as opposed to automatically handing out single-use plastic items. 4,500+ youth have been trained as Skip the Plastic Ambassadors to swap eco-friendly items for single-use plastic ones. Nicolina has received 14 proclamations from mayors in support of Skip the Plastic Day. She also testified before both the Illinois House of Representatives and Senate, resulting in them passing her authored state-wide resolutions supporting Skip the Plastic Day!
Not looking to purchase our pouches? Please consider making a donation now, which will be passed along to conservation efforts! Thank you!
