Schools across the UK are being encouraged to ‘go blue’ for the
day to raise awareness among young children of the importance of our seas and
rivers.
The ‘blue day’ will take place on Friday 7th June – the day
before World Oceans Day – and is part of the run-up
to the 2013 Ecover Schools Blue Mile in Plymouth 17th-19th June.
The Ecover Schools Blue Mile, which this year has a new charity partner, the Marine
Conservation Society (MCS), aims to get more young people actively
involved with our blue environment.
Schools are being asked to sign up and make a splash on 7th June by wearing
blue and doing aquatic activities such as relay swims, rock pooling and
waterside walks. Other ways of joining in are creating a sea monster, painting
a fish collage or designing a swimming costume.
The blue initiative comes as the UN holds events to mark World
Water Day on 22nd March and as studies suggest that being on or near the water
is good for health and well-being.
Dr Mathew White is a researcher at the European Centre for Environment and
Human Health in Truro and has been looking at the possible health benefits of
engaging with our coasts and water.
In one study, some 90 youngsters went on a 12-week surfing programme, part of
which involved learning about the marine environment. They were then put
through a series of health checks, which showed that their resting heart rates
had improved and their quality of life, self-esteem and relationships with
others were more positive, compared to a sample group of young people who had
not taken part.
Crucially, he said the sooner that children are introduced to an outdoor
lifestyle, the better: “It has been shown that the earlier children get
involved with their green and blue environments, the more likely they are to
return to them after the ‘teenage dip’ years.”
In separate research carried out by the National Trust, the charity found that
children in the UK are losing contact with nature at a "dramatic"
rate, and their health and education were suffering as a result. The trust said
youngsters were showing symptoms of ‘nature deficit disorder’.
One of the factors behind the ‘indoor’ culture was the anxiety among parents
about the perceived dangers of their children taking part in outdoor
activities.
The Ecover Schools Blue Mile is organised by Plymouth-based triple
round-the-world yachtsman and ocean champion Conrad Humphreys. He hopes the
event will re-engage the nation’s youngsters with their natural environment:
“All the recent research really does show that this trend of children not being
actively involved with green and blue spaces needs to be reversed.
“That’s what the Ecover Schools Blue Mile is all about. It’s about having fun
with our blue environment and learning about it at the same time. Let’s get our
children active and outdoors again.”
The programme includes a new science and marine conservation event with the National Marine Aquarium and Plymouth
University from 17th-19th June. Schools across the South West can
register to take part in events on and off the water and in the aquarium.
The flagship event of the Ecover Blue Mile is a mass-participation swim and
paddle event on the weekend of 14th-15th September, when hundreds of people
will be taking to the water at Plymouth’s historic Barbican. Other events are
being organised by participants across the UK.
It’s hoped that £50,000 will be raised for MCS, to help protect our seas,
shores and wildlife, at a crucial time with mounting pressure on our marine
environment. MCS is set to announce the 2013 Good Beach Guide next week.
The charity works closely with schools in getting the blue message across to
children at a young age. Since 2005, its Cool Seas Roadshow has reached 100,000
children, raising awareness about the beauty and importance of the marine
environment.
In the last two years the charity has delivered 157 roadshow
visits and distributed MCS Cool Seas Action Packs to 26,971 children across the
UK. Almost 60 schools have also taken part in the ‘Bottle Champions’ initiative
– collecting and recycling 207,020 bottles and sending bottle tops to be
recycled so they could receive a brand new kit made from recycled plastic
bottles for one of their school sports teams.
Sue Ranger from the MCS said: “We believe young people should be
offered the opportunity to get to know our seas, appreciate and value this
amazing resource and gain first-hand experience of the role we can all play in
safeguarding it.
“If this kind of learning about our seas and wider oceans were a
key part of all children’s education, from a very young age, this would be
likely to influence their life-long decision-making about resource use – and
this could change the future.”
Ecover recently announced their continued support for the Blue
Mile. They have just unveiled plans to launch a world-first in packaging in
2014 – an entirely new form of fully sustainable and recyclable plastic,
incorporating post-consumer recyclables (PCR), Plantastic – plastic made from
100% sugarcane and plastic fished from the sea.
Ecover’s chief executive, Philip Malmberg said: “As
manufacturers we’ve got to take responsibility for sustainability very
seriously – to take real action on climate change and the damage done by our
over-reliance on fossil fuels, creating ‘green’ products that deliver more than
a nod to sustainability.”
Schools can sign up for the Ecover Schools Blue Mile event or
register their own Schools Blue Mile events by visiting the website.
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