WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
Copyright Polly Alakija
Children from Badore Model College, Lagos, Nigeria and their painted “Bellyful” boat.
Have you heard the saying “You are what you eat” ? What you are also depends on what you drink. To keep healthy and strong you need to drink at least 1.5 litres of clean water a day, and even more in the dry season.
Where do you get your drinking water from? It might look clean but there may be lots of bugs in the water that you can not see and if you drink that water it can make you sick. Make sure that the water you drink has been boiled for at least one minute as this will kill off all those germs in your water.
Does this water look safe? Would you eat fish caught here?
If your water is contaminated by toxic waste this can’t be cleaned by boiling so you need to be careful where you get your water from. If you get water from a place where rubbish is thrown or where farmers throw pesticides, it could have chemicals in it that will make you sick.
Can you see why this whale died?
If the water is polluted it will also make the fish that live in the water sick as they will eat the rubbish. Human beings are throwing so much plastic waste into our water ways that in 30 years time we will have more plastic in our rivers and oceans than fish. So what will happen to all of us whose families depend on fishing?
In Nigeria we have 10 different types of kingfishers. These beautiful birds depend on catching fish, this is why they have such large beaks. If the waters are full of plastics what will they eat ? Around the world animals and birds are dying because their bellies are full of plastic waste. It is up to you ! To make a difference and protect us all.
