A West Lothian mother and daughter are going plastic free through April in an effort to be more mindful of their impact on the environment.
Lorna Kerr’s daughter Jessica Arbuckle (8), who attends Mid Calder Primary, kick-started the idea earlier this month.
“It was a school project,” said Jessica, explaining what led to her and her mother planning a plastic-free month. “We learned about all the plastic in the sea, and then we went to the Sea Bird Centre in North Berwick and cleaned up litter that had washed up on the beach.”
Lorna said: “Jessica came home one day and told me there was so much plastic going into our seas, that by 2050 there would be more plastic than fish.
“That started a conversation between us about how much plastic we were using in the house and looking for ways we could cut it down.”
“We thought we could get through a week, but we decided to make it a whole month, as that would be more challenging and really make us adapt how we act in the long term.
“So we’re going to go through the month of April without using plastic, or only using plastic that’s 100 per cent recyclable.”
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Once the plastic we use makes it to the sea - be that through littering or blowing off waste headed to landfill - it slowly decomposes into tiny pieces called micro-plastics which are incredibly harmful to life under the sea.
Beyond saying no to straws, not using plastic cutlery, and using a flask instead of buying bottled water, cutting down on plastic usage can be complicated as modern life rests so heavily on its usage.
“We’re at the stage just now where we’re researching alternatives,” explained Lorna. “One friend actually suggested buying our own cow, but instead we’ll be getting milk from a local dairy in a glass bottle, and looking for shampoo bars instead of buying it in plastic bottles at the supermarket.”
She added: “I think we’ll try and carry it on afterwards, though while we’ll be completely strict in April, afterwards we’ll take what we’ve learned and incorporate it into our lives in a way that works for us.
“The hope is we’ll be far more mindful after this, and as a mother, I think this is going to be a fantastic experience for Jessica, because I’m not just telling her about recycling, we’re learning about it together and putting it into practice.”
According to the World Wildlife Foundation’s website, 80 per cent of plastic in the sea comes from littering and irresponsible waste disposal on the land.
