STUDENTS from Tregadillett Community Primary School helped to ‘Be The Change’ for Cornwall’s beaches recently.

As part of ‘Clean Cornwall’ week, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Clean Cornwall launched the ‘Be The Change’ education programme across 16 schools in Cornwall — including Tregadillett Primary School.

The SAS team delivered an interactive workshop to promote the vital work already being done by Cornwall’s ‘Litter Heroes’ and to show the pupils how they could ‘Be The Change’ and reduce the amount of litter in the environment that is ending up in our seas.

The pupils took part in a workshop to prepare them for the ‘Rubbish Day Out’ event held at the Eden Project.

Dom Ferris, projects manager for SAS, said: “During the workshop day the pupils took part in a ‘Trash Mob’, which had them going around their school grounds searching for litter. Schools are usually kept quite clean but there is always litter for them to find.

“The children also took part in an activity we call ‘Rebel Recycling’. They went around the school and searched through the bins to identify how many of the items, which had been thrown away, could be recycled.”

The children were briefed by members of the SAS team who then helped them create an ‘anti-litter action plan’ to be presented in a Dragon’s Den style pitch to a panel of judges in front of around 100 other pupils from across Cornwall.

The pupils of Tregadillett CP School attended the ‘Rubbish Day Out’ at the Eden Project on Monday, March 21.

Clean Cornwall and Surfers Against Sewage had joined forces to host this event to encourage more young people to think about litter and its impacts on the environment.

Dom said: “During the Be The Change workshops the children sat around five tables for 30 minutes and planned out their ‘anti-litter action plan’.

“They then condensed this into a three and a half minute ‘Lightning Pitch’ which they delivered during the Rubbish Day Out. I have to say Tregadillett’s was the most different idea of all pitched on the day.”

Fifteen students from Tregadillett attended and delivered their pitch on stage in front of over 100 students from schools across Cornwall and, although they did not win they intend to implement their anti-litter action plan and are currently looking into funding the project.

Headteacher Stuart Tulloch spoke on the children’s plan, he said: “The children’s plan had a focus on what is called e-waste, or electronic waste.

“We have an active Eco-council and as part of E-week from March 7 the children looked into how much electronic waste we make in a lifetime. They looked at how many items we throw away like mobile phones, toasters, microwaves etcetera.

“At the Eden Project there is a WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Man sculpture made out of discarded electronic waste.

“We are looking into having a WEEE station at the school, that we will later be able to open to the community.

“Governors have put some money towards it but we will have to look into other means of funding to hopefully implement the children’s idea.”