With more and more of us reassessing our ‘plastic consumption’ and with young people setting up environmental clubs and beach clean projects around the world, we thought it was time to release our ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ Plastic=Not Fantastic! resources and ideas into the wild! (NOTE: If the PowerPoint presentation doesn’t download automatically, drop us a line via the website below). These materials, resources and activity ideas are a result of my post-Fellowship funding from the Churchill Fellowship. Several events and workshops were run (school assemblies, science weeks, after-school family sessions, in-school workshops, community events: Fun Palaces, The Big Draw, Biology Week) around the topics of plastic pollution, reusing and recycling, eco-materials and alternatives. The prevalence of plastics (and microplastics) in our oceans is a hot topic, following the BBC series, Blue Planet 2, and a subject that young people are eager to discuss. What are the alternatives, what are the issues, and what simple actions can we take to save our oceans? Some of the activities here are discussion-based, others are hands-on (either for use in the classroom or at community/drop-in/festival event). More activities created in collaboration with other educational partners will be added here, with more detail (so do watch this space). One of the resources is ‘Dabba the Tiffin Carrier’, suitable for Key Stage 2, which tells a very short story about a reusable tiffin carrier that is pushed to the side when plastic bags arrived on the scene. In developing countries it is often seen as a sign of affluence if people can afford to throw containers and packaging away without reusing. We’ve used this prompt sheet to encourage creative writing, and ask young people how they would convince Dabba’s owner that reusing is the best! Many thanks to the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Churchill Fellowship for supporting this project. (P.S. Why not use the opportunity of Christmas/seasonal festivities and our plastic packaging addiction during this season to teach young people about repurposing and recycling natural decorations… making them glitter and tinsel-free!)

This is a simple, safe hands-on activity for any age, but particularly useful for Key Stage 2 (Living things and their habitats) to explain what malaria is and how infection can spread easily.