David Attenborough has praised a school in Cornwall for ditching red noses during Comic Relief because of their concerns over plastic pollution.
Last term, pupils at Fourlanesend community primary school learned about the environmental damage of single-use plastics – and they were concerned their charity work for Red Nose Day would contribute to growing landfill sites. Instead, they have decided to paint their noses red on Friday 15 March.
Not only was the move prompted by lessons taught in school, but also by the BBC programme Blue Planet, hosted by David Attenborough, which highlighted the problem of plastic pollution in our oceans.
So the students were “absolutely buzzing” when they received a handwritten letter from the veteran naturalist himself.
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Attenborough told the students: “I think you are perfectly correct to revise the question of replacing plastic products wherever we can, and I hope you get an adequate answer from Comic Relief.”
He was referring to an open letter the school wrote to the BBC, explaining why they had chosen to take a stand this year. “We find it surprising that the BBC is still marketing red plastic foam noses,” they wrote.
“They are essentially just another form of single-use plastic, which will probably be worn for one day only before ending up in landfill. Even worse, they could end up as litter in the environment.”
The letter continues: “We are a small rural school near the coast and many of our pupils participate in beach cleans where they see only too well the impact of plastic waste.
“Over one-third of the fish landed at our local fish market have plastic pieces in their guts and that figure rises to 100% for our local fulmars (a type of seabird).”
The school asked Comic Relief to publicly commit to seeking alternatives to the plastic noses in the future.
Headteacher Rebecca Norton said the school received a “corporate response” from the charity, who defended the red noses saying they were “collectable and cherished toys”.
Norton said since the school took the stance not to buy red noses this year, other schools in the area have got on board with the idea, too.