This story was written and shared as part of the Read Now Write Now workshops which took place during the Look Climate Lab 2022. To find out more about Read Now Write Now, click here.

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In a world full of devastation and dismay, a world with an ocean slowly but surely being polluted, a world where animals don’t live in fear of their habitats being destroyed, humans use a material capable of outlasting even the oldest of creatures both big and small. Plastics. This excessive consumption of fossil fuels  even affects the air, lungs absorbing it every second of every day.

This is a problem William Faucet, a small, funny and clever boy who was never shy, dared to face, eye to eye, no matter the fact that no-one stood by him with his concerns. He had a small, pink nose,  and soft skin, with a pair of glasses barely scraping the end of his nose. “Please listen, help me to stop the thing  that will one day destroy this planet!” William would preach everywhere he went , but everyone would always walk past.

Only one old, dishevelled lady stopped and listened, but when he had finished,she said in a deep, croaky voice, “Not in my lifetime it won’t!” and left. It was hopeless, yet he continued to do so for he was not someone to give up so easily. Day and night he pored over his books on climate change facts, nurturing once neglected plants and trying to find a good use for many things that were about to be thrown away such as a long, pointy pole and old plates, even his dad’s old red and black paint, which he cleverly turned into a, “stop littering” sign.

Despite doing all this, he made time for his best friend, Charlie, who still didn’t share the same views as him. Why couldn’t even his best friend understand? There is a global effort needed to stop a global catastrophe from happening!

Anyway,this aside, they got along greatly.Together,they would go and eat ice cream or go for a walk. One day, they decided to get a drink at the local supermarket. “They have a copious amount of plastic here. Someone should do something about this. This is terrible!” said James, furious about the amount of plastic that must be wasted everyday thanks to this.

His friend promptly remarked in return, “Just stop moaning, you worry wart. It will be fine, nothing bad will come of these products, it’s a supermarket,ok? You won’t be able to change anything anyway. They will never listen.”  Reluctantly, William agreed with his friend and agreed to stop moaning.

But what Charlie didn’t know was that William had an idea. He would encourage and ensure that supermarkets stop using plastics by sending a chain of letters giving ideas and reasons to  become a plastic-free shop! But how? There was only one him and a world of people who don’t even care about this grim reality. He would have to encourage them through  school projects and stories to achieve this HUGE goal. It would take days and nights but would eventually be worth it.

First though, he went to propose this to his parents. “ And if we all send letters, we can partially save this planet from becoming a barren wasteland!” he said. His parents agreed and said he was allowed. Now it was time to get to work. All afternoon he stayed in his bedroom, writing a letter full of many useful things for becoming environmentally friendly. The next day he sent his letter addressed to the supermarket, full of glee. He waited for something to happen. And waited. And waited. Nothing happened. Was his letter just discarded upon reading?

His friends’ predictions creeped up on him.William, feeling betrayed, mocked and neglected, gave up hope, not attempting this ludicrous idea again.But one day, the most amazing thought came to him that instead of working on this himself, being rejected and ignored, he should get everyone to write one in his area. He asked his teacher if he could propose this idea to the class. She agreed and he instantly set to work making a presentation  to show his class, and encourage them to join him on this fight against the planet-killing plastics.

The next day, beaming with excitement, William got up, got dressed, had breakfast and set off to school. He had brought a bag today to keep his presentation safe in as people glanced at it and muttered things like, “I wonder what’s in there.” and, “ Why on earth does he have a bag?” Little did they know that this could be the presentation to change Earth.

In the classroom the teacher took the register and announced that William had a speech to give. It was showtime. He cleared his throat and began, “ I have an idea that may well change the way you eat and drink forever after this moment, an idea that will get rid of plastics, or the possible sea of our futures if we don’t stop it.” Everyone gasped. Continuing he said, “This will involve everyone’s help from the smartest of people to the smallest. We must write letters to the shops, as they are contributing towards pollution. These letters will contain ideas and means to become eco-friendly!” There was a small scatter of clapping and a lot of unsure whispers. The teacher, Mrs. Kimblewick,hearing all the unsettlement,then gave the task as homework instead, and it was due by tomorrow.

“And take your time.” she added. This was great, he had the whole class doing a letter to help him! He repeated this at many other public places, at the park, near the bike shed, even at the car park.Many listened to this and set to work. By the next week, he had encouraged many people to write letters. Together they did make a difference,as the supermarket,the week after this, gave an announcement that they were reducing their plastics by over 50%! This was Williams’ dream come true. When a community comes together, amazing things can happen…