Under the slogan of “Make Plastic Fantastic”, the School has once again organised Science Week. This year, the event has tried to put even greater emphasis on the need to recycle and reduce plastic. Students reflected on their own habits as consumers and asked themselves how they might reduce their own impact on the environment, in their everyday lives. They now understand that they should try first to reduce and reuse, and then recycle. And they are now also more inclined to do so.
In the week from the 11th to the 15th of March, our students participated in a whole range of different activities and workshops making them more aware of the need to recycle. They also watched one of the episodes from The Blue Planet series about how plastic is impacting the oceans, the lives of many animals and consequently our own lives as well. We are the ones who eat the fish who in turn have swallowed plastic thrown away in the sea. In the end, this type of pollution affects us in a very direct way.
Amongst the activities which students enjoyed most, it is worth mentioning the Plastic Slime and Upcycling workshops. Slime is a soft, viscous, non-toxic material, usually green, although it does come in other colours. It is made out of guar gum and can be shaped and modeled at will. On the other hand, the Upcycling workshop was about plastic recycling explaining how recycled materials can be used to make new products which in fact have a greater economic value than the original product. So, in fact, being able to turn waste into valuable things.After all the workshops and having learned a lot throughout the week, the students themselves set up something called “spread the word”. This is about writing a poem, a song, an article or an essay which lets everyone know what they think about the situation with plastic, how this can be changed and really just helping to spread awareness about this subject.
We all know that there is a lot more to be done. But our students also know that each and every effort in this area is important and counts. That´s why they have joined in the effort to recycle and reduce plastic use. In fact, greater awareness is beginning to make a difference, bearing small fruits and achieving some changes. Albeit slowly, this progress is now unstoppable with both companies and governments accepting that they have to take new measures. Proof of this are examples such as Carrefour, where you can now refill your own plastic containers, the increasing ban on plastic straws and the much stricter EU legislation on single use plastics.