As part of Eco Week at NHEHS, Thursday 20th May is a plastic free day.

This is a topic close to the heart of our Eco Reps who spoke passionately about this very issue at assembly earlier this week.

By Alicia W and Elisha K, Year 10 Eco Reps 

“On May 20th we are asking you all to use no single use plastic or less single use plastic. It’s crazy to think that one million plastic bottles gets sold every minute and each one of these can only be used once. These bottles plus millions of other single use plastic used annually could circle the earth four times. Our sea is polluted with over 5 trillion pieces of plastic. It’s sad to think that by 2050 virtually every sea bird on the planet will be eating plastic because it is polluted everywhere. 79% of plastic goes to landfill and these toxic chemicals bioaccumulate into different ecosystems.

However, despite all the negatives, we are starting to see some positives for example, the plastic bag fee has massively reduced the amount of plastic bags people buy per purchase, furthermore decreasing the amount of bags which end up in the ocean. Covid-19 has had a massive impact on reducing noise, light and water pollution. We need to encourage people to swap single-use household items for reusable ones. Some examples of this could be bringing a reusable water bottle into school or when you get a takeaway avoiding the plastic cutlery or even using containers instead of cling film. these are just some of the ways you can help to reduce the consumption of single use plastics.

Finally, we are excited to tell you that the school catering team is getting involved too!  Due to Covid-19, more plastic and disposable items are being used to ensure the food is served safely and to assist in keeping the bubbles separated, but on plastic-free day, we will be wrapping all desserts in paper bags for the week.  We will also be providing the salad pots in paper containers. As we all know less plastic means a cleaner environment.”