— By Andru Shively — 

’Tis the season once more and so in many parts of the world, children are sending out their letters to the North Pole, reassuring jolly old Saint Nicholas of their good behaviour and telling him precisely what they want for Christmas. But in one part of the world, schoolchildren recently took part in a different kind of letter-writing campaign – one that surely has gotten them onto Santa’s nice list.

In the town of Bingham in the UK, pupils at an infant school reportedly spurred change after writing letters to school leaders expressing concern about disposable, single-use plastics in the lunchroom. The letters were sent on to the school’s catering company, resulting in the introduction of reusable pudding pots at lunchtime – to the students’ delight and the teachers’ surprise – with the initiative since spreading to four other schools in the Nottingham area.

Learning under a forest school model, the Bingham schoolkids also grow food on campus and compost their food waste. So, Santa, if you’re reading this, there are some environmentally conscious youngsters in England’s East Midlands who have been good this year!