After watching a David Attenborough documentary with his grandmother on the amount of plastic in the Pacific Ocean, 8-year-old Jack Adams felt angry and concerned about plastic pollution and the effect this is having on our wildlife.
Jack wanted to make his feelings known to the Government, so his mother suggested he write to their local MP, Tony Lloyd.
In his letter to the Rochdale MP, Jack, from Healey, wrote that “91% of the plastic on the Earth is not recycled. Instead, it is dumped on the Earth and in the Ocean, and the earth itself is becoming a dump.”
Tony Lloyd said, “I was so pleased that Jack cared enough to write to me about this, and it’s so inspiring to see young people care about the environment and the future of our planet.”
The following weekend, Tony met Jack with his sister Isabel and their mum Clare, at the Plastic Patrol clean up event on the banks of Rochdale Canal.
Tony said, “The clean-up was a great success and one litter picker even found a Mars bar wrapper priced at 19p, which she shared on Twitter.”
Twitter users were quick to point out that the last time a Mars bar cost 19p was in the late 1980s, which shows how long non-recyclable plastics last after use.
The Government announced that the Environment Bill will include powers to enable a deposit return scheme (DRS) for some drinks containers and to enact extended producer responsibility schemes, where producers are required to pay the total cost of disposal for their products.
