Grade 5 Campaign to Reduce Plastic

As part of the RISA (Rome International Schools Association) campaign to reduce plastic consumption in our everyday lives, Grade 5 from Castelli International School decided to target a popular snack, ABC della Merenda, produced by Parmareggio SpA.

Even though the snack is generally considered to be a healthy one, in their analysis pupils  identified its negative environmental impact, due to the amount of plastic used in the packaging.

Having examined the packaging, the class went on to do some research into possible alternatives. As well as substituting plastic for paper, they also found some biodegradable products suitable for the food industry.

At this point each child wrote a letter, in English and in Italian, to try to persuade Parmareggio to rethink their packaging for this product.

Read two of the letters

Iola’s English Letter

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to tell you about the packaging of your ABC della Merenda.

I must say it is a fantastic snack: the food is nice and healthy and I am absolutely sure that many people enjoy it everyday and of course I do too.It seems to me though that there is a lot of plastic in your packaging.

Clearly, you care very much about children getting clean food and so you package it incredibly well. However, even though plastic is a useful substance, it lasts forever. Surely, you know why this could be a problem.It is all over the news. It is an enormous problem.

When you use single-use plastics it means they are used for only a few minutes.Then it either gets taken to a landfill or sometimes it gets recycled.

In truth, only a very small amount gets recycled, actually. Rubbish left around, which might have blown out of a trash bins or just carelessly tossed away, eventually end up in the ocean. Animals die because of this. Without doubt, you must care about this. The time has come to change. To really take action. Everyone must know this.

We have been studying alternatives for plastic packaging in class, and I have a few suggestions for you. There are many things that could make the packaging of your ABC della Merenda better for the environment: PLA ( polylactic acid, which is biodegradable, bagasse, which is made from sugarcane, then there is plastic made from stone, and wood pulp cellophane.

It seems to me that these are good alternatives for your packaging. I shouldn't hurry you too much but,

It is vital that you act soon!

Our planet is in danger!

Thank you for finding the time to read my letter

Yours Sincerely,

Iola Hatlie

Iola’s English Letter

Matilde’s Italian letter

Caro Parmareggio,

le scrivo questa lettera perché le volevo chiedere se potesse cambiare la confezione di plastica della “ABC della merenda”. Io amo le merende che lei fà, sono buonissime e molto nutrienti, sono anche perfette per iniziare una giornata. Quasi tutti i miei amici di scuola comprano le sue merendine. Ma c'è un problema, la confezione è di plastica!!! 

La nostra scuola sta provando a ridurre la plastica e se lei continua a produrre plastica, noi non potremo più le merende che fà e questo sarebbe terribile perché a tutti noi piacciono le sue merende!!! Io sono sicura che lei riuscirà a cambiare la confezione. Ci sono tante alternative che abbiamo trovato facendo delle ricerche a scuola come: bagasse, PLA, wood pulp cellophane… 

Io spero tanto che decide di cambiare la confezione di plastica, in questo modo lei smetterebbe di inquinare e così tutti potremmo mangiare di nuovo le sue merende. La ringrazio per aver letto la mia lettera e spero che lei pensi a quello che le ho scritto.

Qualora lei fosse interessato le ho mandato questi link:

 https://www.matrec.com/news-trend/piatti-in-bagassa

https://www.smart-trash-eduformat.com/pla-produzione.html

https://www.stonepaperitalia.com/

Cordiali saluti

 

Matilde

Matilde’s Italian letter

So what happened next?

A month later Grade 5 received a detailed and cordial letter congratulating the class on their active interest in the environment, responding to all their questions and taking up some of their suggestions.

Ciao ragazzi e ragazze, innanzitutto vi ringraziamo per averci scritto e ci complimentiamo per il vostro impegno e la sensibilità che dimostrate nei confronti dell’ambiente e dei rischi che la nostra terra corre ogni giorno

Parmareggio Tweet

They also told us that the technology used in their factories aims to reduce the amount of plastic produced and that since July 2019 they have been collaborating with a company that recycles the plastic in this product.

Parmareggio assured us that the plastic straw would be changed to a paper one and research is being done to reduce the thickness of the plastic container and to use more sustainable alternatives in the packaging.

To their delight, Grade 5 have been asked to take part in their project test pack which will be in production soon!

Nel ringraziarvi nuovamente per il vostro suggerimento, vi confermiamo che abbiamo già inoltrato la segnalazione alle funzioni competenti, che ne terranno sicuramente conto in fase di aggiornamento del packaging e nelle prossime produzioni.

Parmareggio Tweet

As you can imagine, the class are very excited about the development of this project and have learned a valuable lesson in how even small actions can contribute to saving our planet.