The equivalent of one bin lorry full of plastic is tipped into the world’s seas every minute!
But we’ve come to depend on plastic so much that sometimes we don’t see how much we are using – this is where the Rofft School’s eco council stepped in to show their classmates just how much plastic they use.
On November 14, pupils unsuspectingly brought in their usual snacks for morning break time, binned their rubbish as normal and the eco council went through it to separate all the single-use plastic. One week later on November 21, they set their teachers and fellow classmates the challenge to go single-use plastic free. Take a look at the difference in the amount of plastic that was collected!
Before single-use plastic free day, the eco council held an assembly about plastics, explained why they were setting the school this challenge and that they are looking at ways to keep the momentum going with posters and photographs that show the effect of plastic on the environment.
The children were really happy that everyone had joined in and were surprised at the difference between the amounts of rubbish on the two days. Here are a few thoughts from the children themselves:
“I think that we should do a single use plastic free day more often because the rubbish difference was enormous”
“I was shocked to see how much plastic was generated on Thursday 14th November in one playtime. On the plastic free day there was a massive difference!”
“Two weeks ago we used more plastic than last week!”
“I liked that fact that everyone listened to our assembly on plastic and tried so hard on the plastic free day”
“On the plastic free day we generated a quarter the amount of rubbish. Hopefully that will make a small difference to our environment!”
Cllr David Bithell, lead member for environment and transport said: “This was a great way to show just how much plastic is used every day, unnecessarily. The children really thought about choosing snacks that have no plastic (like fruits) or how bulk buying reduces the amount of plastic used (for example, buying a big pot of yoghurt and taking it to school in tupaware). Well done to all the pupils and staff, and thank you to the parents for getting on board with the idea.”
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