Letchworth primary schools will receive books to promote plastic free initiative
PUBLISHED: 14:41 17 July 2018 | UPDATED: 14:41 17 July 2018
Letchworth primary schools are to receive a book series - which aims to educate children about the impact of single-use plastics - thanks to a grant awarded by North Herts District Council.
The Letchworth area committee awarded the grant to the Plastic Free Letchworth Project to provide a copy of the books to all primary schools in the town.
Julia Sonander, from Plastic Free Letchworth, said: “It’s important that we understand how plastics can cause harm and think about ways we can change our behaviour to reduce our use of plastics.
“There beautiful illustrated books with their engaging stories are a great way to get children thinking about how they can do something to help.
“A number of schools have recently taken part in the Plastic Free Letchworth themed Festival Art Competition so we know schools are already keen to raise this issue with their children.”
The author of the series, Ellie Jackson, was inspired when she and her family were living in Australia and saw a turtle being released back into the ocean after a year of treatment for ingesting plastic.
From there, the environmental scientist decided to use a children’s story as a way of educating young people about the threat to sea life.
The first two books of the series – Duffy’s Lucky Escape and Marli’s Tangled Tale – were released this year and a third is due to be released in September.
Each primary school will receive copies of both books along with access to online resources, as Ellie aims to have the books available in every UK school by the end of the year.
She said: “To have council’s offer to sponsor all the local schools in Letchworth has been wonderful – by educating young people, we’re safeguarding the future, and raising a more enlightened generation.
“By using engaging stories with fantastic illustrations, we’re able to connect with children of all ages and bring the issue down to their level,
“It’s my view that projects like this can have a real impact by engaging whole communities with the issue and inspiring them to make the changes our environment so desperately needs.”
The Plastic Free Letchworth team have been busy visiting schools in the town to deliver their books.
To find out more about the book series, go to duffytheseaturtle.com.