Kids on Climate Change - Part 2

With recent protests on climate change bringing awareness to the fact that for future generations, the planet is going to need some serious saving, I interviewed my younger sisters (aged 9 and 6) to see how aware the younger generation really is. Where do they get their information and do they know what needs to be done for their planet?

RECYCLING

What at the moment do you think is the biggest thing people are trying not to use to help the planet? We use it almost every day, we recycle it

I: Oh, plastic – because you need to use more cardboard straws. Some people know they need to use them but moan about them tearing easy and need another one - you’re not saving the planet there.

Why do we need to use less plastic?

I: Because, often plastic gets into the sea and on the news once, a woman went to clean up the beach and loads of things washed up on shore. Loads of baby sea turtles got trapped, because they think plastic is actual food which kills them.

S: Also, people shouldn’t have made plastic straws. With your plastic, instead of recycling you can make your own model with it. So, you can make your own rocket or anything

I: A plastic straw octopus

So, you’re recycling in your own house, to make toys out of things? That’s clever

I: People shouldn’t have started making plastic straws, but at the beginning they didn’t know this was gonna happen

Now we’re at a point where it’s gone so far, people are only just starting to realise. Do you think that starting now will actually help?

I: People should’ve been told when other people started realising and knowing that climate change was happening

Should we have been told or should we have realised for ourselves?

S: Realised for ourselves

I: Both probably, because some people aren’t gonna realise that

I learnt at a talk I went to recently that glass bottles recycled in Cornwall are collected and shipped to Portugal because we don’t have access to the right machinery to recycle them in this country. The travel miles and ship pollution then makes more of a problem

I: They need to find a way to get boats across there quickly without using more pollution - rowing a boat would save pollution but it would take days

S: Rowing a boat doesn’t make pollution, you only make waves