With the return to school just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about packed lunches. This blog suggests planet-friendly alternatives to your lunchtime essentials.
These sandwich wrappers are a reusable alternative to cling film. They are quick and easy to use, perfect for the morning rush. After you have made the sandwich, just wrap it up and secure with the Velcro strap. They’re easy to clean as well. Just wipe down the plastic food side with a damp cloth or pop them in the washing machine. These wrappers come in loads of different colours and patterns, which makes them a lot more interesting than just plain old cling-film. You can get your wrapper here.
Sandwich wrappers sometimes just won’t do for the smaller foods, so I suggest these cotton snack bags. These are perfect for foods such as nuts and biscuits. And when you’re finished with them, they just go straight in the washing machine. These are the perfect alternative for single use plastic bags. You can buy a snack bag here.
If you’re more of a soup fan, these flasks are great. They are the perfect size for one person’s lunch. They’ll keep food hot for 10 hours, and cold for 20. And they are made of metal, so they are durable and will last a long time. You can find a food flask here.
Reusable bottles are becoming more popular, but I still see people in my school who buy plastic bottles of water every day. Even if they do have a reusable bottle, it is often made of plastic, which has a lot of disadvantages. These bottles are made of stainless steel, which means they are sturdy and will last a long time. They can keep a drink ice-cold for 24 hours or piping hot for 12! Perfect for a hot day, when everyone else has lukewarm drinks. A SHO bottle is an essential for daily life. You can find a 500ml one here. Or if you prefer a smaller bottle, you can get it here.
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Environmentalism is a movement that we’re all probably familiar with now. We’re used to seeing protests and school strikes on tv. But environmentalism didn’t start out like that. It began as a much smaller and quieter movement.
Environmentalism began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in a movement called conservationism. This was a network of groups made up of upper-class men who enjoyed hunting, fishing and hiking. They weren’t interested in conserving the world as a whole, unlike climate activists today. They just wanted to conserve little areas that they loved by turning them into National parks or game reserves. This had a downside, as this meant that indigenous people lost their right to hunt and fish on these grounds.
Lots of climate activists were inspired by writers in the mid 20th century. An American, Aldo Leopold, wrote a book called ‘A Sand County Almanac’ which was a key part of the second wave of environmentalism. The book called for humans to become plain citizens of the earth rather than conquerors of it. This book had a huge impact, but it still didn’t slow down the rapid progress of industrialization. A huge turning point occurred in 1962 when Rachel Carson, a scientist and writer, published her book, ‘Silent Spring’. The book was about the use of chemicals to kill insects, and the damage that these insecticides did to bird and animal life. These writings inspired the next generation to start questioning the treatment of the natural world, and to start doing something about it.
One of the new groups started in the years after ‘Silent Spring’ was the Environmental Defence Fund (EDF). This organisation was founded by a group of scientists and lawyers in 1967. Together they filed a lawsuit which caused the United States to ban insecticides. This ban caused many birds who had suffered from the chemicals to recover.
This group was the start of the rise of environmental law. Lawyers began working with companies to reduce their emissions and find more eco-friendly ways to buy and sell.
Which brings us to today. The youth are the climate activists of the 21st century. There are teenage activists all over the globe organising school strikes and protests. They are delivering speeches and writing books. They are winning grants to make their schools eco-friendlier. They are even filing lawsuits against huge polluting companies. We are living in the age of environmentalism, and it’s our turn to take part.
I based this blog on Chapter 5 of the book ‘How To Change Everything’ by Naomi Klein and Rebecca Stefoff. I got it from my auntie and I am finding it really interesting. If you liked this blog, you should definitely check out the book.
See you soon! Ailsa x
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A lot of people think that if something has a recycling symbol on it then you can recycle it, but, actually, it depends on what numbers in the middle of it. Here is a quick guide.
1 - This is polyethylene terephthalate. This plastic is usually found in juice bottles and food trays. Recyclable.
2 - This is high-density polyethylene. This plastic is usually found in yoghurt tubs, plastic shopping bags, milk cartons and shampoo/detergent bottles. Recyclable.
3 - This is polyvinyl chloride. This plastic is usually found in hoses and clear food packaging. Even though this one is recyclable it is considered to be the most toxic of all plastics.
4 - This is low-density polyethylene. This plastic is usually found in bin bags, squeezable bottles and cling film. Recyclable but sometimes difficult to find somewhere that actually recycles this!
5 - This is polypropylene. This plastic is usually found in bottle caps, plastic straws and food tubs. Recyclable.
6 - This is either polystyrene or expanded polystyrene. This plastic is usually found in plastic cutlery, CD cases, plastic cups and plastic plates. Not easy to recycle.
7 - This is polycarbonate resins and compose material. This plastic is usually found in components, computers, electronics (phones, laptops etc), nylon and Perspex. Not easy to recycle.
So, next time you go to the shops, maybe check the recycling label carefully! Or better still, buy without plastic packaging wherever you can.
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My mum has put new Malawi products on the website. There are pencil cases, cards and purses! A teacher at my school sells them.
Both the pencil cases and the purses are made by a women's sewing group in Malawi. They use the money they make to help fund their training so they can start their own tailoring business.
They are really pretty and they are fair trade! Check them out here.
Hope you enjoyed this blog! Ailsa xx
]]>1. Bamboo soap bag - sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo soft! I don't know what else to say! (Mum says this is also great for ease of use if you often drop your soap in the shower, and for using up all those last bits of soap!) Find it here.
2.Collapsible cup - I love collapsing the cup and making it back up again! (Mum says it is really handy for carrying around in your pocket or bag and taking your own reusable cup saves you money in many coffee shops). Find it on the website here.
3.SHO bottles - they're so bright and colourful. My favourite colour is the mixture of 2 blues. (Mum says they also keep your cold liquid extra cold for hours on end - we tested this in the sunshine on holiday and it really worked!). Find them here.
4.Natural stain remover - it removed tomato ketchup from my brother's white t-shirt! Find it here.
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🌲Remember to take your own shopping bags with you to avoid the need to take plastic bags (or to avoid juggling several items on the way out because you refuse to take a plastic bag!)
🌳 Invest in a reusable water bottle. Lots of cafes and bars now fill these for free, and free water stations are popping up all over the country!
🐢 Avoid plastic wrapped meat and fish by taking your own containers to the butchers or fishmongers. Some larger supermarkets like Morrisons now allow you to do this too.
🌎 Avoid plastic straws - just ask for no straw when ordering or carry your own (for you and a friend).
🌿 Invest in a reusable coffee cup. Not only can this save you money on lots of coffee shops, it can also be used for takeaway soups or for water (if you’ve forgotten your bottle!).
All of us making a small change is what can make the difference!
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/47535851
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I was really interested to hear about school pupils across the country striking to raise awareness of climate change. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47250424. Apparently around 15,000 students took part across the UK.
Some politicians said that pupils were disrupting classes and should have been learning instead but this topic is so important and change has been too slow to happen. We need to make a change now!
Ailsa x
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I went to the opticians with my mum today and noticed this on the wall. Did you know you can now recycle contact lenses and single-use contact lens packaging? I read somewhere recently that lots of people flush their contact lenses down the toilet. When they make it into the sea, they can hurt fish and other sea creatures.
I'm not quite sure what they make from the recycled lenses but it must be better than what happens to them just now!
My mum found a Sir David Attenborough quote (I love Blue Planet!) that I think is very true: "It’s absurd to suggest we can do totally without plastic but there are so many areas where we use plastic without a thought”. The more I look around, the more I see people often using plastic without a thought, because it's easy, convenient and cheap. But I love that awareness is increasing on some things that we previously took for granted.
Ailsa x
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My name is Ailsa and I am 9 years old. My mum runs The Green Turtle. Our family has been trying really hard over the last few months to try to reduce how much plastic we use in our shopping and lifestyles. On this page I'm going to share my eco-friendly ideas and activities with you. I hope you enjoy them.
I thought I'd start with our beach clean activities. It always upsets me to see lots of plastic on a beach. I have seen loads of pictures of sea life being trapped by the plastic we throw away and some of it lasts in the sea for years. I think if I can remove even a small amount of the plastic from the beach then that will be a little less that can damage marine life!
This picture was from our beach clean in Portpatrick, on the south coast of Scotland. Dad managed to pull out this huge pipe that was half-buried in the sand. It felt good to go back the next day and see how much cleaner the beach still looked. It's great fun and satisfying to do a beach clean!
Follow #2minutebeachclean for more tips and ideas.
Ailsa x
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