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Kids Against Plastic Launch Search for 16 Under 16 Eco Influencers
Meet Amy (13) and Ella (11) Meek, founders of Kids Against Plastic and sisters on a mission to make a difference. What started out as a home-school project has become one of the UK’s most prolific youth action campaigns against plastic pollution. Inspired by their incredible achievements with Kids Against Plastic, David Luke Schoolwear felt that Amy and Ella would make perfect youth voice of the ’16 Under 16’ campaign as Managing director Kathryn Shuttleworth explains
“We’re delighted to be working with Kids Against Plastic on the launch of this unique search. Amy and Ella are an inspiration to people of all ages but in particular their success in raising awareness of the need to be Plastic Clever is a shining example of how young people are making a difference not just in their community, but to the world.”
But how did it all begin?
“About 2 years ago we were being home schooled by our parents and we were learning about the UN’s Global Goals for Sustainable Development,” explains Amy.
“There are 17 goals altogether, too many to study in one go, so we chose three of the goals; Climate action, Responsible consumption, and Life Below Water to focus on. In each of these goals we read about plastic pollution and saw the horrible images of the devastation plastic causes. We knew we couldn't ignore the issue of plastic pollution, so we founded our campaign to do our bit towards addressing it.”
“Our campaign doesn't aim to make everyone plastic free. No. That's almost impossible and lots of people will be put off trying to do anything if they think this. So our aim is to encourage people to be Plastic Clever, which basically means being a 'smarter' user of plastic and using reusable items instead of single-use plastic.”
Campaign life is non-stop for Amy and Ella who recently gave a TEDx Talk in Exeter on being plastic clever, outlining how small changes can have larger impacts than people imagine;
“It was very exciting and had been at the top of our bucket list for a long time, so it was great to get the opportunity to stand on TED’s red dot. We’re also really proud to have an amazing team of Kids Against Plastic all around the UK, of all ages, who are working hard in their local area to spread the word about plastic pollution and make their local cafes and schools Plastic Clever.”
Kids Against Plastic will be helping to judge entries in the ‘16 Under 16’ search, tapping into their own knowledge of what it takes to run an impactful campaign to help the judges select the final sixteen. We asked them to share their top tips to help inspire young champions get started in the world of youth social action.
- Find something you’re passionate about: running a campaign takes commitment and effort, so it’s important that you’re campaigning about something you really feel strongly about. There’s no limit to what this could be, but try to focus on one big goal to achieve by the end, so that you have something to work towards.
- Start small! It’s really important to make a difference in your local area to begin with – what better place to start? Once you’ve got your friends and neighbourhood on board, then you can grow it larger. You’ll probably have learnt a lot along the way as well.
- Be bold. Making change happen isn’t easy. You’ve got to be prepared to stand up for what you believe in, whether among your peers or literally stood in front of an audience giving a talk! Don’t be afraid to speak to people face to face as well. It can be very easy to hide behind social media or email, but the real impact happens when you speak to the receiver yourself. A lot easier to say than to actually do, but it’s worth the flutter of nerves beforehand.