Children take on big business and bring about a change to reduce use of plastic.

Children at Blackawton Primary School have spent some time this term learning about single use plastics and their effect on the environment, especially the marine environment. The children identified some single use plastics which they thought are unnecessary, including drinking straws.

They noticed that the milk that they have delivered to the school, as part of a national government sponsored scheme called ‘Cool Milk at School’, was delivered in small cartons with a plastic straw attached and they wanted to do something to change that.

The school runs an after school club called Global Citizens Club, which aims to encourage children to feel empowered to get involved in issues which they feel passionate about. The club members spent a couple of weeks researching the issue. They wrote letters to Cool Milk at School asking them to supply milk in more sustainable packaging and to ditch the plastic straw.

The letter in response, from the Deputy Managing Director at Cool Milk, delighted the children and it has helped them to see that you can make a difference if you are passionate about an issue. The MD starts his letter by thanking the children for their “passionate letters, which demonstrate your understanding of the impact of pollution, and your determination to make things better.”

He went on to say that Cool Milk will supply the school’s milk from now on in recyclable large containers so that the staff can pour the milk into beakers; and also that they will be challenging the biggest dairies who supply their milk to work with their packaging suppliers to develop a more environmentally-friendly drinking straw.

The children at the school are delighted with the response, especially the message that if you feel passionate about an issue and do something about it then you can make change happen.