Rid Hackney of plastic bags, say kids

Year 5 students at London Fields School with their plastic bag mountain

CHILDREN at a Hackney primary school are calling on the Council to make the borough a plastic bag-free zone. They say the thousands bags thrown away by shoppers every day are damaging the environment and pose a threat to wildlife.

The Year 5 pupils from London Fields primary school invited one of their local councillors, Patrick Vernon, to visit the school on Friday 16 October to see a plastic bag mountain they had built in the school hall to illustrate the extent of the problem.

“The idea came from the children themselves,” said teacher  Christina Savva. “They had been working on a project about how discarded plastic bags were killing turtles in St. Lucia and then realised we had a problem with plastic bags here, too.”

Councillor Vernon was so impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the young environmentalists that he has invited them to present their ideas to a full Council meeting on Wednesday 25 November.

“The children are thrilled to feel that their voice is being heard and they might be able to make a real difference to the world around them,” said Christina Savva.