How Alli Adams became Nerdle the Clown

Drawing by Chelsea Ngum of Honey Girl Waterwear

      Once upon a time there was a little mermaid. She was small, but very special. This little mermaid swam around the ocean looking up towards the world above frequently. Sometimes, she would run into rocks, coral or even other fish, like whales or dolphins, because she never watched where she was going. Other sea life thought her to be up in the clouds, concerned with things that don’t matter to the waterworld. But the waterworld had problems. All of the mermaids’ tears would fall in the form of plastic. She spent most of her time getting to the root of this problem while other schools of fish were out trying to get some tail.
       In her research, the little mermaid found out that mermaids’ tears were made of plastic because all of the fish and sea creatures ate the plastic falling from the world above. And mermaids’ favorite meal is turf and surf. The mermaids ingested the plastic in the fish and it came out in the form of tears. Her research on this matter earned her the nickname Nerdle. “Hey Nerdle!...watch where you’re going!” an urchin or dolphin would squeak as she swam by preoccupied with the plight of the oceans. She knew what was going on above the sea. She watched as the occasional bottle cap, plastic bag, piece of old chewing gum, toothbrush, toy car, beer bottle, hair tie, beach ball, condom, or bathing suit bottom would float down into her home.
     She cried. And she knew what she had to do.

      She changed her fin for a pair of legs and began her journey. She went to the dry world to go help. Nerdle knew that clowns are very popular and that laughter is a good way to bring people together. And so she became “Nerdle the Clown”. Kids loved Nerdle the clown! She painted pretty pictures of her home on their faces. Nerdle was very happy, too! She saw hundreds of people wiping away her tears. They were picking them up off of the beach and stopping the plastic showers going on down below. Her laughter and happiness were contagious. All of the two legged creatures began to see how happy it made “Nerdle the Clown” to take care of the dry world. As a result, the waterworld became a better place, too.


This is a true story. Nerdle the clown made here appearance at the Sustainable Coastline beach cleanup on Earth Day April 22 at Makapu’u Beach. Read more about the successful beach clean up here.

A volunteer helping pick up marine debris.

Nerdle also saw success this week when organizations like the Surfrider Foundation and other environmental activists in Hawai’i got together and successfully banned the use of plastic bags in all grocery stores on Oahu starting in 2015. You can read more about that story here.


So be like Nerdle. Day dream. Be concerned. Research. Smile. Grow a pair and make a change! If you read up on what’s going on, you too can wipe away the mermaid tears.