Red Nose Day to be plastic free

6 October 2020

Red Nose Day 2021 will have plastic-free red noses for the first time ever.

Lenny Henry

The charity telethon - which was founded by Sir Lenny Henry and Richard Curtis - encourages people to send their support by selling their signature red noses, but they will now be made from bagasse after hundreds of school children from Fourlanesend Community Primary School in Cornwall wrote to the founders about using plastic.

Red Nose Day is the highlight of Comic Relief, which aims to raise money to help those suffering from poverty.

Henry travelled to Ethiopia in 1988 to celebrate the first Red Nose Day telethon with the help of over 150 celebrities.

Last year, the signature red noses helped to raise more than £63 million, selling them at £1.25 each.

However, some parents decided to boycott the red noses in 2019 after expressing their concerns about the amount of plastic used in the foam noses.

One wrote on Twitter: “Don’t buy a Red Nose it’s plastic and harmful to the planet and an outdated idea. Donate for comic relief without these! (sic)”

What’s more, the school children received backing from Sir David Attenborough after they wrote to him to suggest an alternative material.

He wrote back saying the children were "perfectly correct" to raise "the question of replacing plastic products wherever we can, and I hope you get an adequate answer from Comic Relief".

Now, the red noses will be made from a natural by-product of sugar cane ready for the next Red Nose Day, which is set to take place on March 19.