SCHOOL children in Glasgow have written to the city’s council requesting a meeting to advise on measures to reduce single-use plastic in their schools.
It comes as part of a scheme run by Surfers Against Sewage which teaches pupils how to run their own campaigns to reduce single-use plastics.
Pupils at 12 schools in the city have now written to the head of catering and facilities management at Glasgow City Council regarding reducing single-use and unnecessary plastic in their school dining rooms.
They are requesting a meeting with the team to discuss the use of polystyrene cups for soups, sauce sachets and plastic tubs and lids – having identified them as potential ways to cut down on single-use plastic.
Further work by the youngsters has seen plans to collect crisp packets to be sent off to be created into sleeping bag liners for rough sleepers. A short video has also been created to demonstrate to schoolmates how to recycle properly – detailing information such as separating sandwich cartons to ensure the cardboard and soft plastic film can both be recycled.
Ongoing Covid measures mean that the use of water fountains is currently prevented, which has led to more pupils bringing in plastic water bottles. It is hoped that the video also helps aid the pupils in knowing which recycling bin to put the bottles into.
Eight plastic-free pioneers have been created at Hyndland Primary School, with the primary 7 pupils now leading the school in eradicating single-use plastics and reducing the amount of unnecessary plastic waste. The youngsters also have ambitions of aiding the school in achieving a Plastic Free School accreditation award from Surfers Against Sewage.
Olivia (11) said, “Its good that our school is taking the lead in becoming plastic-free and I hope that we can inspire other schools to sign up to do the same. All the work we are doing is to show people how important it is that we do something now to stop the damage to our environment and what steps we can all take to make a difference.”
Charlie (11), added, “Through this process we’ve learned about the many different types of plastic that there are and how difficult some of them are to recycle. The next thing we are going to look at is targeting manufacturers to see what they can do to cut down on packaging and making sure their wrappings are recyclable. We are going to do a litter pick to identify the most common brands and manufacturers from the litter that people are throwing away and get in touch with them.”
The scheme forms part of Glasgow City Council’s plastic reduction strategy, which places emphasis on prevention, reuse, recycling and recovery. It aims to aid the city in its ambitions of becoming free of unnecessary plastic by 2030.
Councillor Anna Richardson convenor for sustainability and carbon reduction at Glasgow City Council, said, “Plastic waste is a huge problem and an issue that should concern all of us, particularly because of its devastating effects on marine life when it finds its way into our waterways. It also represents a highly visible sign of our throwaway culture that needs to be addressed urgently. This is why Glasgow’s plastic reduction strategy has the bold ambition to be free of unnecessary plastic by the year 2030.
“Our action plan has a mixture of relatively small steps to major interventions including recycling single use cups, encouraging refilling bottles, incentivisation and improving education on reuse and responsible recycling, that will have a cumulative impact on reducing plastic waste. We need our young people to confidently take action to help realise our climate goals and the Hyndland Plastic Free Pioneers are setting a great example for others in their school and in the wider learning community.”
