PUPILS at Cardross Primary have been praised for taking action to reduce the use of plastic in their school.

The school’s Eco Committee made the decision to join the national schools against plastic campaign run by Surfers Against Sewage.

The committee launched the campaign at a whole school assembly on February 9 and since then the pupils have been kept busy tackling all things plastic at the school.

The first part of the campaign was boycotting the use of single use plastic bottles. Pupils were able to exchange their plastic bottles for reusable ones.

The Eco Committee, worked with the school kitchen staff to monitor the use of plastics at break and lunchtime.

Mrs Girling, principal teacher, who runs the school eco committee, said: “We were astounded to find that we, on average throw away 115 straws a day, which equates to 21,000 a year!”

They also found that each day single use plastic was used for sandwiches, fruit boxes and plastic spoons.

The second part of the mission was to have a trash mob to see which single use plastics made the most litter in the playground.

Aileen Morton, Argyll and Bute Council leader, was pleased to hear about young people taking action.

She said: “Supporting greener and cleaner communities is among the priorities we agreed as a council last year so it’s great to hear of local young people taking action to help the environment.

“As a council we’re doing what we can to reduce single use plastics – for example, we don’t give out plastic straws with meals.

“We’ll continue to build on our activity in this respect as much as possible, looking forward to a time when single use plastics are a thing of the past.”

Policy lead for education, Yvonne McNeilly, congratulated the pupils at Cardross.

She said: “It’s so important that our young people learn how to take action to improve things that matter to them. Congratulations to the Eco Committee for their fantastic campaign.”

Argyll and Bute Council doesn’t use plastic straws in canteens, with the exception of those which come supplied on drink cartons, and is in talks with suppliers about alternatives.

Efforts to cut down on the use of single-use plastics have gathered pace locally and across Scotland and the UK in recent months after the BBC nature documentary, Blue Planet II, presented by Sir David Attenborough, exposed the growing scale of plastic pollution of the world’s oceans and its impact on wildlife.

As reported in the Advertiser in January, numerous businesses in Helensburgh and the surrounding area have already taken steps to cut down on their own environmental impact by choosing to stop providing plastic straws on their premises.

And the StrawLUSS campaign, backed by several businesses in and around Luss, aims to focus on promoting biodegradable alternatives in the picturesque village.

If the campaign in Luss – which has the support of the Friends of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs – is a success, local landowner Luss Estates hopes to extend it throughout the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.

However, some campaign groups have called for a rethink on a total ban on plastic straws because many biodegradable alternatives are not suitable for disabled people.

The BBC has announced it plans to eliminate single-use plastics from its facilities by 2020 and UK environment secretary Michael Gove has hinted at a ban in England and Wales.