01-05-2025
Island inhabited by penguins was hit by tariffs. You can support them by buying pebbles.
Reading the news as President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs on countries and territories worldwide, Janelle Mais had an idea.
Trump announced tariffs on April 2, or as he coined it, "Liberation Day," in an attempt to erase trade deficits between the U.S. and other countries. Naming 180 countries and regions, he included some regions and islands that are predominately uninhabited or have little to no exports.
One of these islands, Heard Island, is inhabited entirely by seals and penguins and hasn't been visited by humans in over a decade. Mais reached out to some of her friends, including Milla Novak, about "helping" the penguins on Heard Island make their entry into international trade.
Mais, Novak and another friend worked quickly to launch Heard Island Pebbles about 24 hours after Trump's announcement in early April. The goal: sell physical and digital pebbles to raise money to protect the Heard Island penguins and support conservation efforts for the region.
"A lot of negative stories are coming out in the news, obviously," Novak said. "(The tariffs) are affecting a lot of businesses. Our website is tongue-in-cheek. We are still driving the point that all the donations are going to out of the charity. Sometimes having tongue-in-cheek, yes, it gets the word out there, because people are perhaps fatigued by the news of the tariffs."
Heard and McDonald Islands, which were included in the tariff announcements, together form an uninhabited Australian territory. They sit nearly 2,500 miles southwest of Australia and are accessible only via a seven-day boat trip from Perth.
Penguins present stones as tokens of affection or as part of their mating rituals, inspiring the trio to choose these symbolic items as the 'exports' from the penguin-dominated island.
Customers can buy a digital pebble online for $10 or a physical one, which does not actually come from Heard Island, for a donation between $50 and $200.
According to Mais, they've sold both digital and physical pebbles in 45 out of 50 states in the U.S., including 10 in Texas from major metros like Austin, Houston, Dallas and El Paso. They've sold about 95 physical pebbles and over 300 digital ones, which can be decorated virtually.
"It's affecting the world, but I think it's really struck a chord with Americans," Mais said. "And when they make orders, we get a lot of notes saying, 'Sorry about our government. We love you.'"
The group is aiming to raise over $20,000 to support WWF-Australia, which is not affiliated with the site. They've nearly raised $15,000 since its launch earlier this month.
Mais said in a time of turmoil and international trade wars, they wanted to make light of a tough situation.
"You don't want to rub salt in the wound when everyone's feeling so frustrated," Mais said. "You can make a change by being positive and light-hearted. Everyone knows it's a weird, bad situation. But even in the comments, people appreciate the liberty that the pebbles bring."
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texans are buying pebbles to support uninhabited island hit by tariffs
