Climate change is arguably the biggest threat to the continued existence of the human race.

To put the problem into context, a whopping eight million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean each day. Now, because so many fish are consuming this plastic, people are questioning whether fish are safe for human consumption.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

The food industry is one of the biggest contributors to the plastic problem, with many restaurants and brands trying to do their bit for the environment by reducing the amount of plastic in their products - for many, this has involved cutting plastic straws completely.

But the general public knows that so much more needs to be done, and have got behind a petition asking fast food restaurants like McDonald's to stop giving away plastic toys - toys which, as any parent will attest, are only played with for a short period of time.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Change.org]]

The petition wasn't created by adults either, but the very people the toys are marketed towards: children. Namely, nine-year-old Ella and seven-year-old Caitlin, pictured above, who were shocked when they learned about plastic pollution in school.

She said: "We are Ella and Caitlin aged 9 and 7, and we've been learning all about the environment at school and the problem of plastic. It made us very sad to see how plastic harms wildlife and pollutes the ocean, and we want to change this."

"That's why we want Burger King and McDonald's to think of the environment and stop giving plastic toys with their kids meals.

We like to go to eat at Burger King and McDonald's, but children only play with the plastic toys they give us for a few minutes before they get thrown away and harm animals and pollute the sea.

We want anything they give to us to be sustainable so we can protect the planet for us and for future generations."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

They continued: "After we learned about the environment and pollution in school we wanted to do everything we could to help. We put a poster up in the window of our house about saving the planet and we try and recycle as much as we can."

"But we want to do more, which is why we started this petition. It's not enough to make recyclable plastic toys - big, rich companies shouldn't be making toys out of plastic at all.

Please help us get Burger King and McDonald's to listen to us by signing our petition to help the environment."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

At the time of writing, the petition has 388,652 signatures and counting. If you'd like to get behind it, you can sign here.

This petition comes in the wake of McDonald's announcement that they would also be ceasing the use of plastic lids on McFlurrys.

Climate change is arguably the biggest threat to the continued existence of the human race.

To put the problem into context, a whopping eight million pieces of plastic make their way into the ocean each day. Now, because so many fish are consuming this plastic, people are questioning whether fish are safe for human consumption.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

The food industry is one of the biggest contributors to the plastic problem, with many restaurants and brands trying to do their bit for the environment by reducing the amount of plastic in their products - for many, this has involved cutting plastic straws completely.

But the general public knows that so much more needs to be done, and have got behind a petition asking fast food restaurants like McDonald's to stop giving away plastic toys - toys which, as any parent will attest, are only played with for a short period of time.

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Change.org]]

The petition wasn't created by adults either, but the very people the toys are marketed towards: children. Namely, nine-year-old Ella and seven-year-old Caitlin, pictured above, who were shocked when they learned about plastic pollution in school.

She said: "We are Ella and Caitlin aged 9 and 7, and we've been learning all about the environment at school and the problem of plastic. It made us very sad to see how plastic harms wildlife and pollutes the ocean, and we want to change this."

"That's why we want Burger King and McDonald's to think of the environment and stop giving plastic toys with their kids meals.

We like to go to eat at Burger King and McDonald's, but children only play with the plastic toys they give us for a few minutes before they get thrown away and harm animals and pollute the sea.

We want anything they give to us to be sustainable so we can protect the planet for us and for future generations."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

They continued: "After we learned about the environment and pollution in school we wanted to do everything we could to help. We put a poster up in the window of our house about saving the planet and we try and recycle as much as we can."

"But we want to do more, which is why we started this petition. It's not enough to make recyclable plastic toys - big, rich companies shouldn't be making toys out of plastic at all.

Please help us get Burger King and McDonald's to listen to us by signing our petition to help the environment."

[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]

At the time of writing, the petition has 388,652 signatures and counting. If you'd like to get behind it, you can sign here.

This petition comes in the wake of McDonald's announcement that they would also be ceasing the use of plastic lids on McFlurrys.