on the button Issue 47 | Page 8

A day in Arlesey with . . . . . . Meredith Moss Meredith Moss, 7 and three quarters, has lived in Arlesey all her life. She has petitioned the CEO of McDonald’s UK to stop using plastic straws in his 1200 UK restaurants in an effort to raise awareness of the pollution plastic waste is causing in the Oceans. She has also lobbying Arlesey Town Council to encourage local businesses to become more aware of their plastic waste. Meredith lives with her mum, dad, younger brother and a Giant Snail called Hattie. Questions by Jodie Chillery Why did you write to Arlesey town council? We went to a science fair in Birmingham where a marine biologist was talking about the plastic waste in the sea and as soon as I got back I just thought I would write a letter to the council and it was asking them if they could ask the Arlesey shops and businesses could reduce their plastic waste. They sent a reply quickly and that they would talk about it in their meeting and that they are going to contact the shops. It was exciting when I got the letter back from the town council. Meredith Moss What shocked you about plastic waste? I didn’t know that the sun melted it down into tiny little bits and it is shipped to other countries and some of it fell off and the marine life ate it and they die. Sometimes we eat the fish that have eaten plastic too. We should use natural materials, like paper and rubber and other things. Why are you petitioning the head of McDonalds? Mummy told me about petitions and we set it up and it is about if we don’t reduce our plastic waste we could all die. If the ocean gets polluted with plastic the phytoplankton can’t reproduce and they produce loads of the oxygen that we need. This is really big and essential for us. If we stopped producing plastic we would survive for longer. Also the horrible thing is the plastic balls in toothpaste and shower gels. We are putting that in our bodies, that is horrible and I’m not happy about it. So McDonald’s should stop using plastic straws. We’ve had people from all round the world sign the petition. A copy of Meredith’s letter to Arlesey Town Council 8 on the button issue 47 July 2016 | 01462 834265 | So what do you do to relax when you are not campaigning? I love reading I’ve read all the Harry Potter books and I want to be an engineer or inventor so I like reading about inventors and I think Wind Powered cars and Rocket Boots need inventing. I’m in the Brownies and I like it a lot. [email protected] | www.on-the-button.co.uk