Tucker Grooms, a high school student in Marin County, California, found that he was constantly picking up litter while surfing on the beach. In September 2018, he launched a nonprofit, Barrel Bag, which manufactures and distributes eco-friendly and reusable mesh bags that make it easier for people to pick up trash while exploring the coastline. His WordPress website, BarrelBag.org, has become the online hub of the organization.
Each year, about 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the ocean. “The problem of plastic pollution in the ocean is enormous,” says Tucker. “It only takes a single person to have an impact, which is exactly why I started Barrel Bag.” Since its launch last year, Barrel Bag has distributed over 6,250 bags, and continues to expand by partnering with socially minded organizations across California and beyond, including local chambers of commerce, regional tourism associations, and nonprofits like 1% for the Planet.
The 18-year-old’s leadership has also built awareness among his peers, mobilizing youth in his community to get involved. “Running Barrel Bag and always picking up plastic around my friends at the beach has certainly been a contagious act,” he says. “Once I explained to my peers the magnitude of the issue of plastic pollution, they seemed to be much more aware of it, and I’ve observed them consciously going out of their way to pick up after someone else or be responsible about their own trash.”
His alma mater, Marin Academy, has implemented Barrel Bag into their service projects, allowing him to make a mark at the high school for years to come. Now a first-year business student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Tucker is applying all he’s learning to his organization back home to keep things running smoothly.
It’s basically the heart of our business. WordPress enabled me to really spread the word about Barrel Bag, and that’s where probably 90 percent of our business comes through.
When it came to setting up a website, the functionality of WordPress was appealing, as was the ability to grow. “I really don’t think Barrel Bag would be where it is today without a solid website to support it,” says Tucker. Today, BarrelBag.org is the nerve center for all of the nonprofit’s operations, from its partnerships page, where companies dedicated to corporate social responsibility can inquire about co-branded Barrel Bags through a contact form, to its online store — powered by WooCommerce — where anyone interested in making a difference can buy a bag.
If you have a paid WordPress.com plan, take advantage of the Simple Payments or Recurring Payments buttons to collect your own donations.
Other essential features have helped spread the message and mission of Barrel Bag, including embedded YouTube videos on the homepage and a donate page to collect contributions from fans and followers.
In the next year, Barrel Bag hopes to triple their current distribution count. With more partnerships on the horizon and bags currently distributed across the United States, as well as in places like Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Germany, Tucker continues to march toward his goal. The #barrelbaghaul hashtag on Instagram shows a growing grassroots movement of people with bags doing their part while on the beach. “It’s really important because it shows me that they also are using it out at the beaches and they’re following through it. They’re having their impact on the environment as well.”
Tucker’s ultimate goal? To distribute one million Barrel Bags to beachgoers around the world. Given the progress Tucker has made in just a year, we’re eager to see what 2020 will bring. “The way I see it, it’s our planet that we kids are going to have to grow up in, so the best we can do is look after it.”
Inspired by Tucker’s story? Upgrade to a paid plan today to make the business or organization website you’ve always wanted.
Good initiative that has good outcome on the environment and beach lovers. Congratulations!
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Agreed! A definite congrats to Tucker. It seems not all millenials are bad after all.
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Wonderful 🌸
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This is great!
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Young people like Tucker and Greta Thunberg make me work harder to insure a Livable Future for OUR children, and they are All Our Children! Inspiring piece of writing, thank you, Ms. Rowlands!
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Nice
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Incredible!
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Very beatiful and awesome
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Good day everyone, Great idea wonderful, every problem will solve with a simple act; Believe to having a biggest success!! Congrats.
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I love that!
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🌎👍
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Belive in Small success !
Live as nature not against nature!
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Now, if we could just get the Zillionaires who are responsible for all that trash to pony up^ hire all unemployed people looking for satisfying work, and get this world-wide trash dump cleaned up^ for our children to be able to inherit a live-able planet. To all those so-called Human Beings who think nothing of tossing their beer-cans, cig. butts out the car window, shame on you all! This Earth is a Sacred Place, yet we treat it as a garbage dump! Do Not Throw Any-thing Away, There Is No Away!…..
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Can’t really say that without offering a solution as to where these newly employed people would be putting all the trash thatbis picked up. Inevitably the landfills would be over-stocked… What do we do with all the trash that is veing created and left on the planet?
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Maybe we should dump it all in the parking lots of those giant plastic corporations, and in their lobbies?, Also the Petro-Chemical lots, and refineries? Like just bury them forever under it…..That would be nice, I think…. I like opening card-board packaging, I can burn it in my wood-stove for heat…..
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A commendable effort.
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Enjoying your blog, feel free to check out my new poetry blog. Follow, like and comment. I’ll return the favor.
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Great
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I love the formatting you have for your articles! very professional and inspiring!
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Great…..🌎save environment
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Cool❤
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Great.
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Great
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My daughter is an ocean conservationist who eventually is going to want to do something like this but haven’t got around to it yet. She is busy doing her diving in the ocean and working with other animals to make sure that they did not become extinct. I wish you so much luck in your endeavor
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Great write up
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I love this kind of content! It’s so inspiring to see young individuals making strides to protect our oceans and our environment in general. Barrel Bag is a great idea and I think it has a lot of potential for expansion, especially because Tucker’s high school adopted it into their service projects. Living on the west coast myself, I’ve always been conscious of what I bring to the beach and what I leave with, and this bag might have to be something I invest in. Thanks for sharing!
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Nice ♥️
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Splendid ❣
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So great!
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Barrel Bag….an idea… soon to be a movement..
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Love this!
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Great
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I think this is important and interesting. This is honestly what WordPress can do for our lives, empower us to be able to give back.
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Every time we go to the beach we always try to pick up some rubbish. This one could help very well as we normally don’t bring a rubbish bag with us. Such an inspiration ❤
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This is so amazing! I love to hear about stories like that, so inspirational
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