Heidi Sawkins, left, and Bella Ihaka-Drysdale look for rubbish on the Douglas Park School playground. PHOTO/CHELSEA BOYLE
CHELSEA BOYLE
Some of Masterton’s littlest residents want to tackle the world’s biggest environmental problems and they are starting one piece of rubbish at a time.
Douglas Park School’s five and six-year-olds have started a trend on the playground that its cool to pick up litter.
To encourage others to follow suit they have showcased their efforts in a video.
They are hoping people who see the video will be inspired to act when they next see litter and are trying to drum up a viral movement.
The idea is simple – if you see litter pick it up and post a photo of yourself cleaning it up on the Douglas Park School facebook page with the hashtag #cleanupmasterton.
The two-and-a-half-minute video was filmed by the pupils themselves and shows their passion for a clean green New Zealand.
Bella Ihaka-Drysdale tells the camera that litter was “gross”.
Classmate Heidi Sawkins agrees that litter was “disgusting”.
“We have to clean up after ourselves,” she said.
The group were motivated by the discussions they had been having in the classroom about the importance of looking after the environment.
The discussions had certainly made them think about the bigger picture.
Heidi was worried that not everybody in the world had access to clean water and classmate Gerrard Broughton was worried about what ice melting will do to the polar bears.
The video was edited by teacher Kiri Eagle.
“We are so lucky to have what we have,” she said.
But they had to take care of it.
The pupils were “very passionate” about the project, she said.
“I’m very proud of them.
“I need people to get behind them now.”
