By Henry Green
An infant School in Bingham has stopped using single-use plastics after children wrote their own letter to teachers to tell them they were worried about their impact on the environment.
Robert Miles Infant School made the change after noticing it was throwing away lots of used pots from school lunches.
The changes came when a group of Key Stage One pupils wrote letters to school leaders expressing their concerns.
Aimee Attwood, a Key Stage One teacher at the school, said: “We’ve been learning about a book called Stella and the Seagull which talks about a chocolate factory and their use of plastics.
“So we looked around the school to see what the pupils felt was important and that we needed to do even better and the use of single-use plastic was something that they highlighted to me at lunch times,” she added.
The children now eat dessert from re-usable plastic pots.
Erin Withers, a year two pupil, said the switch was important “so then we don’t have to be using too much plastic but then we can still reuse it.”
Chloe Kwok said: “We’re picking up plastic so it will stop greenhouse gasses in the air because if we didn’t it would make it hotter.”
The pupils have also been picking up litter from their communal spaces and using metal reusable bottles instead of plastic bottles.
Bobbie Heap, another pupil at Robert Miles Infant School, said: “There’s loads of animals that help the environment here and like bees and loads of bugs.
“They are really helpful and even small bugs are really helpful,” she added.
Headteacher at Robert Miles Infant School, Kelly Ryan, said that the pupils are very aware of becoming more environmentally friendly and sometimes correct teachers’ habits.
“You see just how much they understand the importance of it,” Kelly said.
“It means a lot to them, they’re so excited about it and it’s great because it shows that age isn’t a barrier,” she added.
Pupils use their leftover food for compost to make sure that waste is not sent to landfill, with the school monitoring compost daily.
