Plastic Pollution Needs Solutions Not Just Repeatedly Pointing Out The Problem
Dougie Poynter/Instagram The impact of pollution has really started to hit home for many people acr..
The impact of pollution has really started to hit home for many people across the globe in recent years: millions have turned to veganism and across the world governments are making moves to try and save our suffering planet.
185 parties are currently involved in the Paris agreement, a landmark global action plan to combat climate change, and as well as tackling air pollutants many officials have made moves to fight the materials polluting our land; plastic is one of the most problematic.
While society is now making a desperate attempt to fix the mistakes, when it comes to saving the planet much of the responsibility is falling on children.
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In 2015, a plastic bag charge was introduced in England and recent government data revealed the number of carrier bags in use is down 90 per cent since the initiative began. Earlier this year both Canada and the European Union voted to ban single-use plastic by 2021, while some supermarkets in Asia have started using banana leaves as a plastic substitute to protect their products.
These are just some of the steps taken to tackle the problem across the world and while they are certainly positive moves we need to ensure the changes continue; that we never fall back into old ways or risk polluting the planet through new habits. To help achieve this, we need to turn to young generations.
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Thankfully, there are many schools and organisations which encourage teaching children about the impacts of plastic pollution and climate change. The organisation Kids Against Plastic, for example, provides teachers with resources to help embed learning about plastic pollution into the curriculum.
However, to ensure children know how they can tackle the problem themselves, rather than just being taught about the impacts, environmental activist and musician Dougie Poynter has written Plastic Sucks! which is packed with facts, stats and tips aiming to give the next generation an insight to the plastic problem and feel inspired to do something about it.
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Explaining why he decided to write a book for children, Dougie told UNILAD:
Being a fan of nature, I just want to do what I can to help preserve what we still have before its too late. At school I was taught about deforestation, but never what I could do about it, which made it feel much scarier. I want to give the power back to the kids.
I think its important to remember children literally are the future. They are our future lawyers, doctors, government officials.
Rather than teaching old dogs new tricks, I believe its more important to inspire the next generation of gatekeepers. Kids arent scared to tackle a problem head on – they just go for it!
Macmillan Children's Books
The 31-year-old went on to point out that while there is added pressure on young generations to fix the problems made by those before them, placing blame will get us nowhere in terms of helping the environment.
He continued:
I just think the world was a different place back then. We could waste a lot of time pointing the finger at who or what is to blame when that time could be used to figure out how to fix the problem. I think all of us need to accept responsibility.
As Jane Goodall said; for the first time in the history of planet earth a species actually has the ability to prevent itself from extinction.
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Humans are creatures of habit and while buying and carrying around a reusable coffee cup instead of throwing one away every morning might seem like added effort in reality its these kinds of small changes that can make the difference, providing you get enough use out of them. Its easy to believe one more cup wouldnt have an impact but think of the result if all seven billion of us said the same.
At a young age, kids are learning lessons every day. Dont cross the road without looking; dont talk to strangers; say please and thank you. Youngsters are always learning and so refusing plastic, reusing and recycling can simply become another behaviour they incorporate into their daily lives.
I went to a nearby shopping mall, my 5 year old doughter shouted "do not give us plastic bags please".
Children are the best audience to hear the effects of climate change, we must invest in them, teach them in a way that will not scare them.#ClimateAction #plasticpollution
— nyakorema rioba (@eecoInitiative) August 20, 2018
Unlike some adults, kids arent too set in their ways and so accepting environmentally friendly alternatives shouldnt be too problematic for them. It offers the opportunity to make lifelong, positive habits and in turn they can teach friends and family how to make changes of their own. Most importantly, they can pass the practices on to generations after them.
23-year-old Tom, a primary school teacher from Liverpool, spoke to UNILAD about how children carry lessons with them throughout their lives, pointing out all behaviour is learned and instilled from a young age.
Tom explained how in the space of one school year some of his students went from knowing nothing about plastic pollution to becoming children who are genuinely passionate about doing their bit to help the world around them. By the end of the year he was getting sent pictures of his students litter picking, recycling and going on bike rides and filling their baskets with abandoned rubbish.
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He added:
The children I am currently teaching will be our next generation of adults. If you create a passion and demonstrate how important something is within a persons childhood, the likelihood is it will manifest itself into their adult life.
Plastic Sucks! informs readers of easy swaps they can do within the home, without having a complete life overhaul.
Dougie gave some examples of effective changes which can be made, saying:
I think the simple things have been most effective; reusable bags, water bottles, bars of soap, toothpaste without micro beads and beeswax cling film.
I have a set of takeaway cutlery that always comes in handy when I go out. I think Ive used that the most out of everything I have. I didnt realise how much plastic cutlery I was going through while on the road and now I can just use my own.
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Heres how you can help! @lessplasticuk
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Dougie went on to recall how he encouraged a number of his neighbours to recycle simply by sending a couple of emails:
One thing that was super simple was moving into my gated community and realising that there was no recycling there. So I sent a couple of emails to my local authority and they introduced recycling boxes for the building within two weeks.
Thats an easy win that anybody could do and now everybody in my building recycles!
The book is an ideal way to introduce or expand on the topic of plastic pollution when it comes to informing kids and throughout this month Plastic Sucks! will be brought into schools for a Plastic Sucks! Day, to give kids and teachers an easy toolbox to kick-start the process and help them start thinking about the positive day-to-day changes they can make.
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Tom explained how the students in his school have loved reading books about plastic pollution, recycling and the ocean, saying they areRead More – Source