SLJ Week 2 Day 1 Activity 3 - Dear Jacinda

For this activity, please write a letter that includes the issue you have chosen, why you have chosen it, and what you would like our Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, to do about it. It is your job to persuade us (and her!) that it’s an important issue.

On your blog, share your letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

Dear Jacinda Adern,

As New Zealand's Prime Minister you probably have the most important role to play.   I myself am just an average teenager from a small town in the West Coast South Island, but I have one big aspiration which is to decrease the litter in our country.

Yes NZ might have claimed bronze for the 'top 20 most beautiful countries 2019', and I am very grateful to be living in Aotearoa, but there is yet so much rubbish scattered all over our country.  

It's 2020, a new year, a new decade, and things need to change for the better.  I believe polluting our country isn't the way to go.  And yes I know that our country isn't as severe as other countries around the world such as China, or Saudi Arabia, but we could at least start on our small country and slowly lean towards the rest of the world.  

The plastic pollution isn't only affecting nature, but is also causing damage towards wildlife. Let's take the kiwi for an example. Once there were estimated around 12 million kiwis all over the world, now there are only 68,000 remaining.  If we don't do anything about this issue there will be consequences involved.  There are many alternatives for plastic and there are many ways we can prevent people from littering. 

Alternatives I Think More People Should Use:


Metal Straws - Metal straws were introduced to New Zealand only in 2018.  I believe that the more people that use metal straws, the less there'll be litter since so many people use plastic straws every hour of every day and it's just creating more disaster.

Water Bottles To Refill Instead Of Buying Plastic Bottles @ Shops - Using water bottles instead of buying a water filled plastic bottle is a lot better for the environment and a bonus, it tastes better!

Using Creativity & Art To Encourage People To Use Rubbish Bins:

A creative idea is to paint rubbish bins to make them stand out.  I think that if we use bright colours it most definitely will get people's attention.  Leaving bins the way they are won't catch people's eye's.  There are many talented artists in New Zealand such as Miranda Jane Caird, she's from Raglan and her art is phenomenal.  She paints shoes, clothing, hats and I bet she can make rubbish bins look as gorgeous.  There are also children from schools that could have bin painting as a project to make their bins in their region look fabulous. 

I know not everyone is a litter bug, but I live near a very small community called Moana and for a math project last year, my friend and I decided to go around Moana and pick up any rubbish we saw.  We placed each items in a category such as beer bottles, hair ties etc.  There was an astonishing amount of rubbish we had collected.  There were beer bottles, hair ties, plastic wrappers, even baby wipes! but the most amount of litter were cigarettes.


I believe that NZ can maintain a beautiful country if we all put in the effort.  One thing I'm really proud of New Zealand for doing is banning plastic bags from supermarkets.  It has definitely improved the way kiwis shop.

Image Attribution Links:
Miranda Jane Caird Art Link
Mama Nature Link 
Kiwi Link
Water Bottle Link
Rubbish On NZ Beach Link
Lake Brunner Link