Since, the 5p plastic bag ban occurred in the UK over 3 years ago (October 2015), the amount of people using one use plastic bags has decreased rapidly since this. Recently on the news, Morrisons has been saying that they will trial paper bags similarly used in America. They are trying to sell or provide no plastic bags to their customers to reduce the amount of one use bags polluting the planet and ending up in the sea killing marine animals.
This week at Beavers, I was responsible for running the evening. The theme for this evening was sustainability (which is one of the key principle at the 24th World Scout Jamboree) so, the Beavers were decorating reusable shopping bags. We taught them that it takes over 15 years for a bag to biodegrade and how many marine animals are dying from eating plastic or getting caught and tangled in plastic bags. We explained how to fight this issue you should think about how much plastic you are using and whether this is really needed. They also learnt about the 3Rs: Reuse, Reduce and Recycle and so how they can use this in their daily lives.
As the Beavers were decorating their bags, they were silent for 45 minutes – I’ve heard that is a record so I’m very pleased with how well they enjoyed it.