Recent Fort Bend ISD graduate Alyssa Le was awarded a $4,000 Don’t Mess with Texas scholarship for her work with Elkins High School company Elkins Very Own.
Le will use the scholarship from the Texas Department of Transportation to continue her education at The University of Texas, where she will study entrepreneurship.“I felt really honored to be selected as a scholarship winner because I think that I definitely think a lot of pride in what my company and what I, myself, have achieved for the environment, but there's definitely something special about someone else recognizing your work as well and seeing that your measurable impact is noticed by others,” Le said. 
Over the last few years, EVO has researched and created reusable alternatives to plastic straws. This past year, the company made the ThreEVO, an eco-friendly straw kit that includes three custom bamboo straws, a wide-toothed bristle cleaner and a biodegradable wheat case, said Le, the company's CEO.
“Essentially this has been our mission to help lower the amount of plastic consumption in Texas and the Houston area,” Le said. “We saw that plastic straws are the eighth-leading plastic pollutant, and 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.”
