More than 100 teachers sign petition to the department for education

Don’t flood our schools with single-use plastic period products, we’re trying to go plastic-free by 2022!

We are a group of teachers from across the UK, writing to you because we’re concerned about the ability of our schools to go plastic-free as your Department has challenged us to do. We are writing today to offer a simple and effective way you could support us in trying to go plastic free.

As teachers we recognise the importance of tackling period poverty. As such we welcome the announcement in the Spring Budget stating that this government would provide free period products to all school-age girls in England. We are writing today to seek confirmation that this government will ensure that all period products purchased with government funds including all those sent to our UK schools will either be plastic-free disposables or reusable products. This simple action could prevent the equivalent of 90 million plastic bags worth of plastic flooding into our schools.

We know that many people with periods and retailers don’t realise that most period pads (including Lil-lets, Always, Tampax and most supermarkets own-brands) can contain up to 90% plastic – the equivalent of five plastic bags per pack of pads. Without your support on this issue we fear it may be impossible for our schools to go single-use plastic free as you have asked us to do.

With all this in mind, could you please reassure us that government will not be sending period products into our schools that contain plastic.

Thank you again for the commitments to tackle both period poverty and plastic pollution and if you would like to discuss any of this further please do not hesitate in getting in touch with City to Sea who would be delighted to support you in this process. 

Yours sincerely, 

Rachel Carson, Primary school teacher 

“There is a gaping hole in understanding the plastic  problem and school is a great place to start making a difference. Providing plastic-free period products to combat period poverty seems like a golden opportunity to lift girls out of embarrassment and shame whilst simultaneously investing in their future. Why the government would not make this a priority, having recently declared a climate emergency, is beyond me.” 

Saskia Boujo, Secondary school teacher 

“As a secondary PSHE teacher I am faced with the reality of young people not having access to menstrual products: misinformation, absenteeism, stigma around menstruation.  Schools have a duty to open up the conversation so young people can choose from the options available to them, as well as a duty to promote sustainability for better health and for better education. So this petition is at the heart of improving young people’s lives.”

Sasha Gibson, Deputy Principal, Sinclair House School

“It is the children of today, and years to come, who have the true power to make a difference and ‘save’ the world. It is therefore our role and responsibility as educators to equip them with the knowledge and understanding of our current climate emergency within our curriculums. Our recent whole-school ‘Save the World’ Spring Term focus highlighted how passionate our children feel towards supporting a healthier and more sustainable world. The introduction of plastic-free period products is therefore not something we should be discussing or arguing over but instead, implementing without delay.”