Reducing plastics campaigner
2077. Skye Neville
Skye Neville, aged 12, from Gwynedd, has been campaigning to reduce single-use plastics in children's magazines after learning how 10 million pieces of plastic are given away in magazines every week, half a billion pieces each year.
As a lifelong fan of reading, Skye was shocked at the amount of single use plastic included with her favourite publications and the detrimental impact this had on the environment. She decided to take action and sent letters to the publishers, her MP, media and retailers, and launched an online petition which was signed by 66,000 people in 2021 which led to Waitrose stopping selling magazines that included plastic toys. Skye is also currently in discussions with Tesco and working with publishers to reduce single-use plastic, with organisations reviewing their policies to make publishing practices more sustainable.
Skye is now the Chief Campaigns Officer for ‘Kids Against Plastic’, founded by fellow Points of Light Ella and Amy Meek, and continues to use her platform and raise awareness for environmental issues.
In a personal letter to Skye, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“It is shocking how millions of pieces of plastic end up going to waste through the toys that come with magazines. But thanks to your incredible efforts, major supermarkets will now stop selling comics and magazines that include such toys, and publishers are reducing the plastic they use.
“You’ve shown what an incredible difference a passionate, determined person can make. I have no doubt that you are inspiring others to follow in your footsteps and help change our world for the better.”
Skye said:
“What an amazing honour to receive this Point of Light Award. For nearly 3 years I have been campaigning to remove cheap plastic toys from kids comics and magazines. In the UK alone, 10 Million pieces of plastic are given away every week, half a billion pieces each year – insane!!! With over 66,000 supporters my big win came when Waitrose agreed with me and stopped selling the plastic ‘tat’. Since then I have worked with the charity Kids Against Plastic and the campaign is now known as #KAPtat – Kids Against Plastic tat which has inspired thousands of children to write letters of support to the major supermarkets calling for change. Massive thanks to everyone at Surfers Against Sewage, Kids Against Plastic and every single kid that has picked up a pen and written a letter in support of my campaign – you are all awesome!!”