Plastic is not fantastic

New eco measures

War on plastic has been declared at an independent school, where the head teacher has banished ‘poly pockets’, polythene food packaging and single use water bottles.

Dorothy MacGinty at Kilgraston School in Bridge of Earn, said the boarding school is well on its way to becoming entirely free of all single use plastic, seemingly the first school in Scotland to take the drastic step.

The move came after the Christmas show at the Perth Concert Hall resulted in the buying and then the disposal of over 500 single use bottles of water for the 260 girls attending.

Admittedly the empties were kept for recycling, but Mrs MacGinty said: “It was horrifying, and that was from just one event.”

After involving the whole school in taking more responsibility for waste, drastic decisions have been made.

Plastic straws and disposable cutlery has now been banned, replaceable-head toothbrushes are being introduced for boarders in the boarding houses and solid (non-bottle) shampoos are being encouraged.

Catering suppliers have been told to ditch the plastic packaging and present fruit and vegetables into cardboard boxes instead. The school now uses glass milk bottles instead of plastic containers.

In the school office there’s no more laminating and an end to filing in poly pockets.

“Plastic carrier bags are as unacceptable as drugs or smoking,” explained the head.

She’s also brought in a rule that girls at Kilgraston have to buy their own refillable water bottle.