Glenn Dawson - Sucking up The Only Straw

A troubled childhood and high school dropout at 15, Glenn Dawson always looked for something fulfilling to do with his life and find meaning in the lack lustre careers he'd had in his journey (his words!).

Eventually, Glenn took the plunge and moved with his wife to Lombok (Indonesia), and bought a run-down bar and restaurant on a beach. He then proceeded to build a new hotel on the site in 2006, and in 2009 he built a second hotel in the backpacker famous Gili Islands.

While the hotel business conjures up images of a life of exotic adventures, it also brought to light the devastation of single use plastics that were washing up on the beaches daily.

Glenn had a lightbulb moment that cascaded into endless research about straws and the devastating effects they had on the planet. The project idea was abandoned and allocated to the back blocks of his mind as Glenn longed for a world that would or could have the plastic straw banned one day.

By 2019, the hotels were sold and Glenn and his wife were living back in The Gurdies, Victoria permanently. Glenn’s hope picked up as he heard the governments of Australia talking about bans on plastic straws, and decided to act on his idea.

Applying his passion, and gaining entry into the prestigious Startup Gippsland incubator program, Glenn’s kickstarted his project, and successfully made it through to the final.

The Only Straw, is a completely biodegradable, compostable and zero waste drinking straw, and Glenn is excited about how it will evolve into in the future, and hopes other green products will follow.

Socials:

Website: The Only Straw https://theonlystraw.com.au/

Insta: The Only Straw @the.only.straw

LinkedIn: Glenn Dawson

FB: The Only Straw @jointhestrevolution

Twitter: @TheOnlyStraw

Mentions:

Startup Gippsland

Bass Coast Shire

Latrobe Valley Authority

Jim Rohn

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube