Pupils from City & Islington college took to the streets outside Angel station yesterday to officially launch their petition to phase out plastic in the borough, as part of a Friends of the Earth (FoE) outreach programme.
The 11 student activists involved in the campaign collected almost 90 signatures from members of the public to add to the hundreds they had received from fellow sixth-formers.
The campaign aims to stop the use of plastic in the college canteen as well as putting pressure on Islington council to adopt the same policy.
FoE youth campaign coach Clare Walden told Islington Now: “The students’ goal is to gather over a thousand signatures because they want to show how deeply local people care about this issue.”
“Our team of sixth-formers really want their local MPs and councillors to engage with them but they are finding it very hard.”
“The climax of the campaign is going to be a showpiece event in May. The hope is that some local luminaries will be in attendance.”
Caroline Russell, Green Party councillor for the Highbury East Ward, said: “The pupils from City & Islington college are absolutely right. They are providing a powerful demonstration that young people care about the climate emergency and want action to address the problem of single use plastics in their college and in their borough.”
When they visited City Hall, the students told me about the sheer range of unnecessary single use plastics in their canteen, so I’m glad to see their campaign taking off.”
FoE took to Twitter yesterday to call on Islington MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry alongside the council’s executive member for the environment Claudia Webbe to attend the event.
The young activists also want Mr Corbyn and Ms Thornberry to back the Phase-out of Plastic Pollution Bill in Parliament, drafted by FoE and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes, which would ban single use plastics.
Alima, a student from City & Islington, said: “If leaders cared about our future then they would’ve taken care of single-use plastic already. It’s better now than never though.”
In February, Cllr Webbe turned on the tap of the first of six new drinking fountains in Islington.
“We’re determined to take action to help cut single-use plastics, which are so harmful for our environment,” said Webbe in a statement at the time.
“This new drinking fountain, in this busy location at the heart of Old Street, is our first on the public highway, and will serve thousands of local residents, workers and visitors to our city, and help to cut plastic waste.”
Ms Walden said: “The launch of water drinking fountains is certainly a step in the right direction, however Islington and London still has a huge single-use plastics problem.
“There must be greater commitment and more considerable action at all levels of government to phase out single use plastic.”
Nawal, another student activist, also expressed scepticism, saying “we need to see change and the people at the top aren’t serious.”
The inspiration for the campaign came from a survey of over 200 Islington residents conducted at the start of the school year, which showed that plastic was the most pressing environmental issue in the eyes of locals.
The My World My Home project, which is funded by the National Lottery, is in its third year at City and Islington College.
