Supporting United Nations World Oceans Day
Milton Junior School Away Day to Beira
At Milton Junior School, we encourage our students to understand the impact their actions have on the world around them. We wanted to support the United Nations World Oceans Day, so we set off on an Away Day to Beira to see how we could help the Indian Ocean!
What is the United Nations World Oceans Day?
United Nations World Oceans Day highlights the negative impacts some of our daily actions, such as single-use plastics, have on the ocean. It highlights the small steps each of us can take to help make sure our oceans are clean and safe for years to come.
It is important to support our oceans - they cover more than 70% of our planet! They are not just our life source, they support every living thing on earth. Despite all their benefits, our oceans are being mistreated and are in need of our help.
We know that plastic pollution is a huge problem in our oceans and that it is, unfortunately, ever-present on our beaches. We were determined to show our support for World Oceans Day by cleaning up a small part of the Mozambique coastline.
We equipped each of our students with plastic gloves and a plastic bag and they set off in pairs to clear a small section of beach. They did a great job, collecting over 15 bags of plastic and other litter such as soda cans, fishing rope and fast food containers – a sad reflection of how people are damaging our public beaches.
This was a valuable learning experience for our students, showing them how even a single piece of litter contributes to a much wider problem. We encouraged them to share their new experiences with family and friends so that we can all learn to improve our use and disposal of plastics and other litter.
After a long bus journey and a busy couple of hours cleaning the beach, it was time for some well-deserved refreshments! Of course, the menu was locally caught fish, providing a valuable opportunity to experience the benefits of a healthy ocean first-hand.
We still have some work to do to change our habits from single-use plastics to more environmentally friendly alternatives but we are so proud of what our students achieved - a plastic free beach, showing a high standard of cleanliness and setting an example of how our beaches should be every day!
We look forward to continuing our support to United Nations World Oceans Day in the years to come.
If you would like more information on our Away Day programme, please do not hesitate to contact us.