Ditch plastic and live a better life
11-year-old campaigner from Kings School Dubai shares his passion for environment
Why the campaign: “I wanted to find an easy for students at my school to start thinking about making a choice not to use plastic every day. I talked about it with my mum and dad and came up with the idea if that if people recorded all the times they did not choose to use plastic, then this would make them think about it more. We decided the best way was to create a website to record the information that students would use each day. My teachers were so supportive, initially my idea was to do it only for my year group, but they allowed my programme to run across the whole school and they send a note about it to parents as well.
My parents: I encourage my parents and they encourage me. I never use drinking straws anymore, and we never use plastic bags when we go shopping. I always try not to buy plastic bottles — this is the hardest one though. The news is always on the TV at home so if there is anything environmental then we talk about that. For example, in the UK last month, they announced they would ban drinking straws which is a great news. My parents always advise me that it is good to have a passion about a subject and to think of ideas that can have a positive impact on others.
My siblings: I have two younger brothers, Kingsley,8, and Rocco, 6, and they are also aware about trying not to use single-use plastic.
I like: Playing sport with my friends is my favourite thing — I love playing football.
My favourite subjects: Science, Maths, and English.
My ambition as an adult: I haven’t decided what job I want to do, but I really want to do something that will help the environment – which I will have to do at the same tie as playing for Manchester United!
Who is Beau Fountain?
Beau Fountain, a 11-year-old student and Drop It Youth Ambassador, spearheaded a campaign to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic at his school, Kings’ School Dubai. Beau launched a week-long campaign at his school to encourage students to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic including plastic bottles, plastic cutlery and straws, and plastic bags.
Drop It Youth, a UAE-based initiative, aims to empower young individuals from 11 to 22 years old to campaign against single-use plastic pollution. During the campaign at Kings’ School Dubai, each student was required to upload the number of plastic bottles, plastic cutlery and straws, and plastic bags they did not use each day. Over 246 students participated in the campaign and at the end of the week, they reduced their consumption by a total of 3,025 plastic items.