Schoolboy Callum, 7, brings reusable water bottle campaign to Holyrood after persuading his school to be greener
The Scottish Parliament’s youngest petitioner yet, a boy from West Lothian, impressed MSPS and the First Minister as he brought his campaign to Holyrood.
Callum Isted, seven, spoke to a committee of MSPS and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday about his campaign for every school child in Scotland to be given a reusable water bottle.
The pupil from Dedridge Primary in Livingston, West Lothian, was applauded by the
Public Petitions Committee, which vowed to take his petition forward and write to the Scottish Government about its objectives.
Asked why he was presenting the petition at Holyrood, Callum said: “I wanted to go to Nicola Sturgeon’s house, to go and speak to her about the bottle, but my mum said it wasn’t allowed. Then we looked online and we found the petitions.”
Committee convener Jackson Carlaw responded: “Ah, so we were second choice.”
The Primary 3 pupil gave the committee a frank appraisal
of the problems plastic water bottles pose for the environment.
He said: “Animals could get injured or die if they are litter and humans could get ill if they eat a fish that has eaten plastic. These are called microplastics.”
Callum also told the MSPS about his fundraising efforts, which have included a 134mile walk, and his visit to the COP26 summit.
Conservative MSP Sue Webber spoke in favour of his petition, saying: “I think when there’s something as tangible as this that will make such a real difference to so many young people across the country, I think it would be foolhardy not to get onside with Callum and his petition and back it all the way.”
After the committee appearance, Callum went on to meet Ms Sturgeon in her Holyrood office and showed her the metal bottles he wants to see handed out to pupils across Scotland.
Callum’s father James said: “All the ideas, everything behind it has been him – him pushing it all to the next level. We’re just going, ‘How can we help and make it happen for him?’”
The move comes after the youngster successfully raised funds to buy refillable bottles for his own school.