SINGLE USE PLASTIC REMOVAL
Single use plastic
Here at Hampden Gurney, we are on a mission to limit our usage of single-use plastic in our school. We’ve realised the high amounts of single-use plastic in our school and are trying to keep the standards low. This will help to keep rubbish dumps from filling up or the production of CO2 by burning the plastic.
How are we trying to improve on this?
We know that the children with packed lunches have food wrapped in mainly single-use plastic, and if not, they still throw it in the general waste bin. To fix this, we are planning to ask everyone to try to limit the amount of single-use plastic in their packed lunches by using reusable plastic lunch boxes or using a thermos. We are also trying to get recycling bins suitable for the food packaging that can be recycled so that it won’t go into landfill either.
We have also noticed that our lunches on school trips are wrapped in single-use plastic which we would just throw into the bin. To prevent this from happening, we asked our chefs if they were able to use recyclable packaging instead. This would mean that we would be able to throw our rubbish in the recycling where it can be used again and turned into something else.
What impact will this have?
This will allow our school to be more eco-friendly and decreases the amount of plastic going to landfills and not being recycled. It also reduces the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere, furthermore contributing to the prevention of climate change. It also prevents pollution by lessening the amount of new raw materials needed, plus, it saves energy.
Cutting down on single-use plastics is also beneficial for our oceans as plastic pollution negatively impacts marine life.
The Courageous Advocates’ job is to help the world to be a better place. That could be through
eco-friendly Lessons, sustainability Awards or using Ecosia. All of these can be found on our website where you found this article.
by Mika, member of the Courageous Advocates