Kia ora

The other day, I was wandering around the school grounds towards the end of lunch time when I was approached by a group of girls who showed me a bag full of rubbish that they had picked up, including the bag that they had put the other rubbish in. They particularly emphasised to me the number of muesli bar wrappers that they had collected.

I congratulated them for caring about "their" environment and in particular "their" school. I was especially impressed that these girls had spent their playtime picking up after others. 

As I wandered on in my journey, I thought: 

• why should these girls even have to pick up after others?
• why should Brian, our dedicated caretaker, have to pick up after others? - yet everyday I see him collecting quantities of rubbish out of the gardens and on the ground
• why should teachers pick up rubbish they encounter as they move around the school? - yet I see them do this frequently

I know that our principal, Lesley, has produced a number of articles asking that disposable wrappings not be included in children's lunch boxes. I know teachers talk to children about how to deal with leftover wrappings in their lunch boxes. In fact this term the school wide science inquiry is on protecting our native flora and fauna.

Looking after our environment (earth) and, therefore, the future habitat for our children, grandchildren and beyond, starts at home - in this case 'our' school.

What can I do:

• don't buy products with environmentally hard-to-break-down packaging
• if you do, then take the food out of this packaging and put it directly in your child's lunch box before sending your child to school
• buy reusable packaging - if you don't know where, look no further than the school shop which has a range of items available
• encourage your child to pick up rubbish after themselves, and perhaps even take a leaf out of the book of the group of girls that approached me

We only have one world to live in and we need to look after it for future generations. If we don't think that we can make a huge impact individually, we certainly can if a huge number do a little.

Looking ahead to a healthy future environment together.

The Amesbury Team