Sheffield schoolchildren join war on plastic pollution

Pupils at Lydgate Junior School in Crosspool marched through the suburb’s streets highlighting the role we all have to play in reducing plastic pollution.

They brandished hand-made placards during the demonstration last Thursday, May 23, illustrating the damage our throw-away lifestyles are wreaking on ocean life.

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The protest was part of wider efforts by staff and children to make Lydgate Junior a ‘Plastic Clever School’ by slashing the amount of waste produced within school and in the wider community.

The school has already switched to reusable cups for drinking water and pupils are writing to a variety of people asking them to show their support by reducing the amount of plastic they bin.

Youngsters at the school have also got their families to photograph the amount of plastic they use each week, with the results to be collated in a giant collage in an effort to drive home the need to cut back.

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Sophie Watkins, aged 10, said: “My family likes spending time in nature and visiting the sea, and my mum enjoys swimming with seals, but plastic kills marine animals like seals so it’s important to me to do everything I can to reduce the amount of single-use plastic.

“I recently did a litter pick in a local field and the amount of rubbish we collected was unbelievable. There were bags and bags of plastic.

“At home, we’ve been trying to reduce the amount of plastic we use by buying more things, from pasta to dried cranberries, from our local waste-free shop, Unwrapped.

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“It’s important we get the message across that everyone can play their part in reducing the amount of plastic waste.”