Meet Nicolina Pappas, the teen who started sewing reusable straw pouches at 8, and raised over $15,000 to fight plastic pollution after 6 years

Nicolina Pappas was 8 years old when a disturbing video changed what she thought about something as ordinary as a drinking straw. The Illinois girl had seen the viral footage of researchers removing a plastic straw from a sea turtle's nose. Instead of simply giving up plastic straws herself, Pappas began thinking about how she could convince other people to do the same. She switched to a reusable metal straw, sewed a small cloth pouch to protect it and then started making more.

She sold the pouches with reusable straws and directed the money toward conservation.

That childhood project eventually became Nicolina's Turtle Co., a nonprofit focused on reducing single-use plastic and environmental education. Six years after she began, Pappas had raised more than $15,000, spoken to more than 3,500 children and adults, and helped fund projects ranging from river cleanups to conservation education and zoo camp scholarships.


And she didn't stop at sewing.

A sea turtle and a plastic straw started everything

The beginning of Pappas' project can be traced to a video that became one of the most recognizable images of the plastic pollution problem.

Pappas was moved by footage showing a sea turtle with a plastic straw lodged in its nose. The Barron Prize says she began using a metal straw afterward and sewed a cloth pouch to keep it in. She soon realized she could make more pouches, sell them and use the proceeds to support conservation.

Nicolina's Turtle Co. was founded in 2019, when Pappas was still in third grade. The idea was remarkably simple: sew reusable-straw pouches, pair them with metal straws and cleaning brushes, and encourage people to replace disposable plastic with something they could use again.

By 2022, the Sun Foundation reported that her bundles were generating hundreds of dollars each year for organizations including Living Lands & Waters, Nahant Marsh Education Center and Niabi Zoo.

A few handmade pouches became thousands of dollars

The numbers grew alongside Pappas. A 2022 presentation to the City of Rock Island said Nicolina's Turtle Co. had donated about $4,500 by that point. In 2023, when Rock Island named Pappas its Youth Citizen of the Year, the city said she had raised more than $6,500, with 100% of the profits going to conservation groups.

By 2025, the figure had more than doubled. The Gloria Barron Prize reported that Pappas had raised more than $15,000 to support river cleanups, establish a zoo camp scholarship and fund local conservation education. Action for Nature, which awarded her second place in its 2025 International Young Eco-Hero Awards, independently reported the same fundraising milestone.

Her project has continued growing. A Sun Foundation program for 2026 says Nicolina's Turtle Co. has now raised more than $30,000 for conservation efforts, including classroom outreach, camp scholarships and animal ambassador programs. What began with one reusable straw had become something much larger.

Then she took the campaign beyond reusable straws

Pappas eventually realized that selling alternatives was only one way to reduce plastic waste. She developed the Skip the Plastic campaign, which encourages restaurants and other businesses to provide disposable straws, utensils and similar plastic items only when customers request them.


Instead of demanding an outright ban, the campaign focuses on reducing unnecessary consumption. Pappas took that idea to local governments. According to the Barron Prize, she presented the campaign to 14 cities across Illinois and Iowa and received 14 proclamations supporting it, representing roughly 250,000 residents.

Rock Island's official records show the city council introducing a citywide plastic-reduction campaign in 2023, with Pappas appearing before the council to thank members for their support. Soon, she was aiming higher than city halls.

The teenager took her idea to Illinois lawmakers

Pappas wrote resolutions declaring April 1 as Skip the Plastic Day and worked with Illinois lawmakers to advance them.

The Barron Prize says she testified before both the Illinois Senate and House of Representatives and that both chambers adopted her resolutions. Her prize profile includes an image of Pappas at the Illinois State Senate after working with state Sen. Mike Halpin on the effort.

It was a considerable leap for an idea that started with a child sitting at a sewing machine. The campaign also gave Pappas another platform: education.

By the time she received the Barron Prize recognition, she had shared her conservation message with more than 3,500 people at schools, conferences and organizations. She has organized cleanups, spoken to city leaders and encouraged other young people to reduce their dependence on single-use plastics.

Her $15,000 milestone became $30,000

Pappas was 14 when she was named a 2025 Gloria Barron Prize winner, recognition given to young people working on environmental and social problems.

But perhaps the clearest way to understand her project is to look at how its numbers changed. It went from a homemade pouch at age 8 to $4,500 raised by 2022, more than $6,500 by 2023, more than $15,000 by 2025 and, according to the Sun Foundation's latest program information, more than $30,000 by 2026.

The money has supported conservation projects, but Pappas' story is also about scale.

A single straw did not solve plastic pollution. A reusable pouch did not clean an entire river. But the pouch gave an 8-year-old a place to start. Selling it produced money for conservation. That fundraising led to education and cleanups. Those efforts grew into a regional campaign. And the campaign eventually put the teenager in front of state lawmakers.

Six years after watching a turtle struggle because of a discarded plastic straw, Pappas had turned one upsetting video into a project reaching thousands of people. And the little cloth pouch she sewed for her own metal straw was no longer little at all.

FAQs

Why did Nicolina Pappas start Nicolina's Turtle Co.?

Pappas was inspired after seeing the viral video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck in its nose. She switched to a metal straw, sewed a pouch to carry it and then began selling similar reusable-straw sets to raise money for conservation.

How much money has Nicolina's Turtle Co. raised?

The Gloria Barron Prize reported that Pappas had raised more than $15,000 by 2025. A 2026 Sun Foundation program gives a newer figure of more than $30,000 raised for conservation efforts.