The children of St James’ C of E Primary School have been celebrating Clean Air Day by campaigning for parents and carers to reduce their air pollution, publishing an open letter in which they ask the adults to turn off their car engines while stuck in stationary traffic outside of schools. This follows from a recently published study suggesting that the pollution inside a stationary car can reach levels up to seven times higher than that of the air pollution outside.
After hearing this shocking statistic, St James’ were eager to get involved with the Clean Air Day campaign, a yearly event designed to raise awareness of how air pollution affects our health.
As part of the town’s CAReless Pollution campaign, therefore, St James’ Primary created an interactive display to encourage the children to learn more about the dangers of breathing polluted air. One of the highlights of this display included a CAReless Pollution Zorb-ball, wherein the children were able to see the polluted air that they breathe when sat in a stationary car.
The pupils of St James’ C of E Primary were shocked to hear how much of an impact air pollution has on their lungs, learning that breathing in polluted air is equivalent to a child smoking one and a half cigarettes a day. Many other concerning statistics also came to light during the campaign, including the fact that young developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to asthma and lung disease if exposed to an excess amount of air pollution.
The school’s excellent efforts to raise awareness of Clean Air Day were celebrated by several popular new outlets, including ITV News, and a couple of the children were even interviewed on the radio!
When talking to Colchester’s ActualRadio, one St James’ pupil said:
“We have been learning about air pollution at school and how bad air can come inside the car. I don’t want to breathe that in on my way to and from school so I will be asking my mum to switch off the engine when we are not moving.”
St James’ Primary School have been excellent role models for other local schools across Colchester, demonstrating how important it is to look after others by cleaning up their air.
Watch ITV’s coverage of the story here: https://bit.ly/3wFdl53
JOHN 15:5
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