And they have demonstrate how waste can be transformed into useful or attractive things like bags or brooches.
The youngsters’ words and creations feature in a new online display created by Edinburgh-based social impact business Ostrero and hosted by National Museums Scotland (NMS) called Designing for the Climate: A Circular Economy.
During the “Making Circles” project the schoolchildren took part in a variety of activities, including learning from professional artists and designers about how to use their creative skills to rid the world of waste.
In their messages to world leaders, the P5 pupils’ list of priorities included banning fossil fuels, investing more in renewables, protecting wildlife and the environment, removing plastic waste from the oceans and saving forests.
Joni Pattison and Felix Weatherstone said: “Stop the companies from making little plastic toys that we throw away. Stop using things that we don’t need.”
Brooklyn Proudfoot added: “Please save tigers and the jungle. And make all cars electric. And make sure no plastic goes into the ocean. And instead of charging your phone you can attach a solar panel to your shirt.”
Commenting on the children’s work, Marian Brown from Ostrero said: “When leaders gather at COP26 they will be making decisions that will decide what kind of world our children will inherit. Today’s young people are highly aware of the issues at stake and deeply concerned about climate change, pollution and environmental degradation.
“Their interest in a circular economy, that minimises waste, and their wonderful creativity should give us all hope and a sense of pride in our young people. It is only right that their words should be heard and their aspirations respected as it is they who will have to endure the potentially devastating effects of climate change – and of the failures by our generation and those that came before us to act sooner to create a sustainable world.”
Designing for the Climate: A Circular Economy can be seen on the NMS website at www.nms.ac.uk.
