Disposable Plastic Toys 🪀

There are loads and loads of children and teenagers who care so much about our planet, and are really trying to make a difference - much more than some more educated adults. There have been many petitions to make change in our world, and lots of them worked. 

You may have heard of how Skye from Gwynedd has persuaded Waitrose to stop selling disposable plastic toys in kids magazines. To be honest, when I was younger, I loved the magazines, but the only reason I would buy them was for the toys. However, as much as I loved them, I stopped buying them when I knew the plastic was terrible. For younger children who love these magazines and the plastic toys like I did, they may not enjoy the magazines as much now - but their parents or guardians could tell them the reason why you shouldn't buy them, and then there will be even more kids and adults who care about the environment! 

The reason why the plastic toys are so bad for the environment is because they don't last. Either they break, or they become uninteresting, but they always end up in the bin or lost somewhere. They also come wrapped in plastic which immediately gets thrown away. So over the next eight weeks, Waitrose will work on removing "pointless plastic" from the shelves and instead have more sustainable, educational or reusable things. The magazine distributors have been written to, informing them that they don't want any more plastic toys and if they receive them after eight weeks, then they will not be sold in shops. Not only have Waitrose stopped selling plastic toys in magazines, they also did so in Christmas Crackers, which I wrote about here.
 

In 2019, two girls - Ella and Caitlin - campaigned for Burger King and McDonald's to stop selling plastic toys with their kids' meals. They got thousands of signatures, over 400,000. Burger King, who are trialing the removal of plastic toys, are maybe starting with sustainable ones, and McDonald's have been planning to change to having more books, board games and soft toys in their Happy Meals. 

You can click here to read more about Skye and her campaign to ditch plastic in magazines and to read about Ella and Caitlin and their campaign, click here. I'm not sure about you, but hearing that they all made a pretty big difference with disposable plastic toys, and being younger than me, really inspires me to do more!

Thank you for reading my blog! Did you take part in Earth Hour yesterday? I did, and actually it was quite fun sitting in the darkness. I'd definitely do it again, I don't know why we don't do it more often! Anyway, see you next week!

Violet

         xxx

Earth Hour 2021! 🕣

On Saturday 27th March from 8:30pm - 9:30pm, 2021's earth hour will take place, and so I want to spread the word for people who don't know. 

So, what is Earth Hour? Well, it is where thousands, millions, of people turn off their lights to show they treasure our planet, and want to help for the future. It is one of the biggest things our planet does, since so many people join in - last year, 190 countries took part, and over 9.5 million people joined in, and that's just in the UK! It is very important for 2021, and across our world, many leaders are deciding what to do about our futures. By 2030, climate change will either be irreversible, or the nature and wildlife around us will be healing and improving. 

At home, apart from turning off all non-essential lights, there are a few things you can do. WWF (who organise it) are hosting a live event which you can see here (if it gives you a redirect notice, press on the top link). There is also an app you can download, the My Footprint app (as in a carbon footprint, or environmental footprint), which shows you alternatives to the not-so-eco-friendly stuff you may do, and different challenges that you can choose to suit you. There will be special Earth Hour challenges too. If you don't go to the live Earth Hour event, how about also giving up devices for an hour? Click here for a pdf from WWF which will show you some more activities to do. 

Thank you for reading this post! Please share it around so as many people as possible are taking part in it! 

Violet

        xxx

Growing Houseplants! 🌱

Last year, I wrote a blog called Grow Your Own where I talked about when you can grow some things, and how you don't need a big garden to do it. Now that it is almost Spring again, I thought I'd talk more about it.

For small places like a balcony or window sill, there are loads and loads of plants that can be grown in a pot. With these plants, they don't usually need lots and lots of sun (obviously they need a bit because of photosynthesis, but they may have adapted to not needing much). Some examples of plants you can grow inside are: 

• Pilea. We have loads of these at home. Their leaves are round and flat and we call them 'crazy plants', but they are also called things like 'flying saucer plants'. To water them, you need to drench it and then let the soil dry, and it needs indirect sun.       
• Sweetheart plant (also known as Hoya Kerrii). This is named because of it's heart-shaped leaves. I think it's easy to care for, because it's a succulent, and so only needs water every three to four weeks. However, it does need a lot of sun, so it would be good for your window sill!
• Amaryllis. It's a bit too late to start potting these, because it's usually in the Autumn when you start. However, they are very pretty, and you can even try and make it re-bloom next year.  
• Peace lily. We have one or two of these (quite big) plants at home. They have huge, shiny leaves and white, thin, spoon-shaped flowers. It is said these can last for many years with the right care, and we've had them for more than a year, and they're still alive, so that's good. They like moist soil, not too soggy, and not too much light.
  

The reasons why indoor plants are good is the fact that they can boost moods, creativity, and reduce stress. But, as much as you want them to, they don't actually reduce air pollutants in your home. You may be thinking; but how can my home have pollutants? Actually, you can have quite a lot in your house, from cooking your meals in inefficient ways or heating your home with polluting fuels. (You can read more about it at WHO). They may make a little difference, but not much.

So, although houseplants don't make much of a difference to the environment, there are many ways you could with the plants you grow. I put the link for my 'growing your own food' blog, and there's also my blog about compost, where I tell you the benefits and the ways of having a compost piles. Thanks so much for reading!

Violet

         xxx

                                                                                                                                                                            

School Lunches! 🎒

Since most of us are going back to school sometime next week, I thought I'd write a blog about how to make your lunch boxes more eco-friendly.

First of all, I'd start off with not buying snacks or food that are individually wrapped, or called "lunchbox sized".   So, I'm talking about not buying things like Babybels, yogurt pots or Frubes (you know, the yogurt that comes in plastic tubes).  I used to always have those, until about year 5 or 6 when I realised they are bad for the environment. Then, I changed to getting one large box of yogurt, and taking a bit out everyday and putting it in my own re-usable pot. I also used to have this thing called a Soreen loaf, and instead of buying the individually wrapped, portion sized slices, we started buying a whole loaf. Of course, you could just go straight to all homemade snacks and food to reduce plastic, which is what I do now. 

Another thing is packing what you know you'll be able to eat, before you get full or you run out of time. This is so that if you don't finish, you won't stuff all the left overs in a bin. However, whenever I don't finish my food, I always take it back home (in my reusable pot, which I believe is made out of recycled materials, which I'd recommend) and finish it after school. 

And then, there is the food that is made in the school canteen, which lots of people get. The two biggest things that are wasted in schools are: paper and card, and food. This could be because the portion sizes are too big, or the children are being picky about new food. There was a study where they looked at the waste some schools made, and a school cook said: 'Children are cautious of unfamiliar foods, for example they wouldn't eat the new organic chicken sausages.' In 2019, it was said that 77% of secondary school and 78% of primary school food waste is avoidable. 

Thank you for reading this week's blog! Don't forget to read last week's one, about Food Waste Action Week, which was last week - but why can't it be every week?😁 See you next week!

Violet

         xxx