Team Evo: Eco-Friendly Straws

Junior Achievement USA

Alyssa Le, Richard Chan, Megan Konvicka, Jeran Kong, Kayla Awadin

As Houston, Texas, began to experience plastic-straw bans that were meant to lower plastic consumption, Team Eco from JA of Southeast Texas went looking for an alternative. Enter ThreEvo, an eco-friendly, easy-to-carry kit made up of bamboo straws, a cleaner, and a case. 

“Plastic straws are the eighth-leading plastic pollutant,” says CEO Alyssa Le, “yet we use them all the time. Especially high schoolers. We love going out to study, going out to hang out, so we really wanted to find a solution that would genuinely make an impact.”

The team sourced bamboo and brushes, and then went to work drilling, cutting, and sewing components that went into the recycled case, keeping a close eye on product quality by being active in the manufacturing process. 

Although the initial business plan called for partnering with popular restaurants and fast-food chains—relationships that Evo successfully navigated—the pandemic created a need for a more private option, so they started selling ThreEvo through an online commerce site, using social media and promotions to drive users to the site.