Bye Bye Plastic, Hello RHS Water Bottles

Bye Bye Plastic, Hello RHS Water Bottles— Olivia King

Uncategorized Olivia King September 19, 2019 0 Comments

So last week saw the launch of the brand new, highly requested RHS water bottles. They had been in the planning for a while, as the Eco-Committee discussed and brainstormed their ideas about how we as a school, can do our bit to reduce the amount of plastic wastage and preserve our precious environment.

We’ve heard Mrs Izod-Miller speak proudly in assembly about the new water bottles at the time of their launch, but what have been their impact? Have the bottles been a success and what more can we look forward to from the Eco-Committee in the future? Here are the answers you’ve been looking for. Below are the most asked questions about the water bottles answered, from Mrs Izod-Miller and key Eco-Committee member Finlay Dinnik…

Could you expand on the message behind the new water bottles?

Mrs Izod-Miller: The new RHS water bottles are designed to remove the school’s reliance on single use plastic bottles. The new bottles will hopefully act as a reminder of the impact we have on the environment in our day to day lives and the small changes we can make. It has hopefully encouraged conversations and widened awareness about SUP.

Fin: The new bottles make it apparent that the school is committed to doing their part to help benefit the planet. Too often organisations make pledges that they are going to act on matters that not only affect our lives, but future generations. However, this often gets brushed under the carpet, made to seem less of a pressing issue than it really is. The water bottles remind us to be proactive in our attempts to protect the planet and shows that RHS is proud to lead the way in doing so.

Have the bottles been a success so far?

Mrs Izod-Miller: Yes! We have stopped the use of 10,000 plastic bottles a year in school. Multiply that by several years! It is great to see so many people using them around school and even bringing in their own. It also means you will hopefully get a real tree this year in the DH as we will have no plastic bottles to use to make one!

Fin: So far, the water bottles have been a huge success, I have seen the majority of pupils use them around school, and they seem to be doing their job. It is so good to see that once people get into the swing of using the bottles and refilling them, they are much more multi-purpose than a single-use plastic bottle; whether it be on the sports field or the library, these bottles have no limit to their use and are also contributing to protecting the planet!

Have their been differences in people’s attitudes towards the preservation of the planet since the launch of these bottles?

Mrs Izod-Miller: The bottles have certainly helped raise awareness and have gotten the RHS community thinking and talking about the impacts of climate change and reasons behind reducing our dependence on single use plastic. I hope that more and more people will take action and make the change. It is your generation who are likely to feel the biggest impacts and can make the difference. We should all have a positive and proactive approach to changing our lifestyles in support of the planet.

Fin: The attitude towards the preservation of the planet has massively changed. When the idea was first brought under the spotlight of the school community, there was much speculation whether these would actually work and people quite often didn’t see the point in them. However, since their introduction, many have commented that the bottles have exceeded the expectations and have proved much more useful and convenient in everyday life than a plastic bottle.

Eco committee’s next project?

Mrs Izod-Miller: The Eco-Committee is meeting in the next couple of weeks to plan the year ahead’s focus. I’d like to continue the drive towards reducing plastic waste in school but the committee is entirely student–ed, so it is over to you and your ideas for your future. We are happy to receive any ideas.

Fin: For the Eco-Committee’s next project we are still pursuing the ongoing plastic crisis at RHS. We are doing so by tackling plastic wrapping in baggy meals and looking for alternatives to plastic cutlery when the dishwasher is out of action. We hope that by tackling these we can make RHS a plastic free school! The Eco-Committee and its purpose has become more popular since the launch of the bottles and we hope that this means that even more people will contribute their ideas.

So there we have it, the invaluable work of Mrs Izod-Miller and the Eco-Committee. Here is a picture of a happy seal, to show how using your RHS water bottle is saving the environment.