Pupil Parliament and Kids Against Plastic (KAP)
Last week, our Pupil Parliament representatives Lily and Millie, went to Nottinghamshire County Council Headquarters to take part in the second Pupil Parliament meeting of the academic year. The girls took part in a very interesting debate about striking, going on to take part in a discussion about plastic, led by Ella Meek from the charity, Kids Against Plastic (KAP).
Amy and Ella Meek are the teenage founders of the environmental charity Kids Against Plastic. Since founding their youth-led organisation back in 2016, the girls have worked hard to inspire kids and adults alike to take action to reduce their use of single-use plastics – or become ‘Plastic Clever’ as they call it. Their Plastic Clever scheme has since been adopted by over 1300 schools, as well as by cafes, businesses, councils and festivals around the UK.
The girls have spoken internationally, including giving their own TEDx talk at the ages of 14 and 12 in 2018, and at the UN Geneva in December 2019. They were also the first ever recipients of the Pride of Britain Green Champions award in 2021, were recognised with BEMs in the 2022 New Years Honours, and are published authors – their first book Be Plastic Clever was released by Dorling Kindersley in May 2020, with next book Be Climate Clever published in April 2022.
It was incredibly inspiring for Lily and Millie to hear that, even when you are 10 (Ella) and 12 years-old (Amy), your voice can be heard and you CAN make a difference. KAP are currently working on asking a well known supermarket to stop selling magazines with plastic toys. They requested, during the pupil parliament session, that the representatives ask their fellow pupils to join them in writing letters to this supermarket, asking them to stop selling the magazines.
The girls also submitted their own questions to KAP about plastic waste in the Rushcliffe Borough, as well as asking KAP their opinion about food waste recycling in our borough.
If you would like to know more about KAP, please follow the link below. They have some amazing initiatives to get involved in.
Thank you for reading.
Mrs Phillips, Millie and Lily.
