Pupils at Sevenoaks School do their bit to help reduce the plastic footprint

A STUDENT driven initiative to reduce the ‘plastic footprint’ at Sevenoaks School has so far prevented more than 15,000 plastic bottles from being used. And this number is expected to grow even faster when new plans to provide all pupils with their own reusable aluminium flasks comes to fruition.

The ZERO plastics project started in 2017 when a campus-wide campaign was launched to reduce the number of plastic bottles being handed out with packed lunches to pupils attending sports fixtures.

FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH: One of the new drinking water fountains which are helping to reduce the plastic footprint at Sevenoaks School.

Rather than the school’s PE and Catering departments providing plastic bottles, it was suggested that each pupil was given their own reusable aluminium bottle, so that the catering department did not have to provide single-use bottles for every match or lunchtime training session.

The organisers also proposed that new drinking water fountains be installed within the school’s sports facility, The Sennocke Centre. Plus, it was suggested that drinking water taps were put in across campus, to enable the filing of bottles, as the existing fountains were not equipped to do this.

After the drinking water points were installed during August, the students began work on designing reusable bottles and these are now being given to all Sevenoaks students. The Catering team has agreed that once all students have been issued with their reusable bottle, they will stop the provision of plastic bottles.

Lower Sixth student Rhiannon Durant said: “Hopefully our work to lessen Sevenoaks School’s plastic waste will contribute to a culture shift in our staff and student community, creating an environment that is more conscious of the impact of today’s decisions on our future.”

The problems caused by plastic waste have been hitting the headlines recently. If your school or organisation has introduced initiatives to help reduce plastic waste, My Sevenoaks Community would like to hear about it.