Resolution 2018 - An Update

Plastic cups!!

Those were the first words I wrote in my notebook when the course I’m attending this week began on Monday.  On each table was a plastic bottle of mineral water and half a dozen throw-away plastic cups.  Why, I wondered angrily, was it not simply water in a jug (maybe with a nice slice of lemon) and paper cups?  Better still, of course, we should all have our own refillable water bottles.  Some do – me included.  (Incidentally, the course has been sufficiently stimulating that I haven't dwelt only on plastic cups all week!)

Such is my heightened awareness of the unnecessary and wasteful use of plastic now.  I’ve been equally incensed by the throw-away plastic cups in the gym at the Hilton Hotel I’m staying at.  They fill a bin by the end of each day.  When I ordered a cocktail at a bar the other evening it came with not one, but two plastic straws.  Really, I don’t even need one!  Likewise, at a friend’s birthday a few weeks back, no-one at the bar was given the option of having a straw in their drink; it was just assumed that everyone would want one.  The irony of this being Turtle Bay – a restaurant named after a marine animal where the food is themed on a famous sea – wasn’t lost on me.  Apparently, in North America and the UK alone, we use and throw away half a billion plastic straws per day.  And most of us don’t need them.  It really isn’t that long since few of us ever used them.

I’ve raised these points with all the organisations concerned, by the way.  It’s one way I’ve started to achieve my new year’s resolution.  One voice may not make a huge difference, but it might get someone thinking and maybe mine isn’t a lone voice.

As resolved, I’ve become much more conscious of my own use of disposable plastic.  One of the first things I did was to give up sparkling mineral water (in plastic bottles) and buy myself that refillable bottle, with one of those cylinders in it that infuses the water with the flavour of whatever fruit I fancy each day.  Who knew water could taste so good?!  I rarely go anywhere without my hessian shopping bags.  I think twice about putting anything in a plastic bag at the supermarket.  Broccoli, carrots, bananas, apples – none of them need bagging.

The thing I am most proud of though is how much the children in my class have taken this issue to their hearts.  We watched some of Blue Planet II and, like me, they were in awe of the splendour of life in the oceans – I think the penguins trying to sneak past slumbering sea-lions was probably the favourite.  They were also horrified by the damage done by plastic pollution – the baby albatross killed after swallowing a plastic toothpick is seared on all our consciences.  Since then, we’ve watched numerous news clips about the issue and explored the facts of it.  I’ve taken them litter-picking on the beach in Bournemouth and we were all appalled by the mountain of litter (almost exclusively plastic) that we collected in just half an hour and over just one hundred metres – three plastic bags full of dog’s mess, a plastic bottle, food wrappers and plastic straws among it.  We’ve visited a local supermarket too to investigate the use of plastic in packaging.  Do flowers really need wrapping in paper and plastic, we wondered.  Why do some greetings cards require a plastic covering while other don’t?  Why do some magazines need wrapping in plastic?  Could fruit, vegetables and bakery products be wrapped in paper or netting instead of plastic bags?  If it’s good enough for mushrooms, why not doughnuts?!

Like me, they’ve started noticing wasteful use of plastic around them; not least at school.  We have a stack of those wretched throw-away plastic cups in our cupboard for when someone needs a drink but I’ve been asked – by the children themselves – to buy them each a re-usable cup that they will take responsibility for themselves.  It will be my pleasure!  After half term, we’ll investigate how many other classes are using disposable cups and share our wisdom.  I like to think they’re on a similar mission at home too!  They’ve asked if we can go litter-picking again – once a month was suggested.  They’re prepared and even eager to give up a play in the park to take responsibility in their community and help protect the local environment.

In English lessons, they have each written a letter to their Member of Parliament, summarising their learning, sharing their feelings and demanding action.  It’s some of the best Literacy teaching I’ve done and I’m very proud of what they’ve written.  They’ve never done anything like this before and they don’t believe I’m actually going to send their letters.  I am, of course, and they’d better get a decent reply!