WARWICK and Leamington has been declared a ‘Plastic Free Community’.
The towns form the 100th location in the UK to receive the accolade from marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS).
The status recognises the work organisations and businesses have done to reduce the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.
Volunteers Jo Lally and Sarah Kenny-Levick were inspired by the work in Penzance – the UK’s first plastic free community – to make more of an impact outside their own homes.
They put a number of schemes in place including encouraging a number of businesses, organisations and schools to minimise disposable plastics in every day use.
Among those is Warwick District Council which has eliminated ten types of plastic items from its buildings including bottles, straws and stirrers. Recycling for crisp packets and stationery items have been introduced as well as a plastic policy for new contractors and events.
The duo has also encouraged a number of businesses to sign up for the ‘Refill’ scheme to allow those out and about to keep their water bottles topped up.
Jo and Sarah said: “We are so grateful to the businesses who have supported us so far. Over 30 organisations across our community have eradicated at least three items of single-use plastic, in many cases much more, which has taken hundreds of thousands of pieces of waste out of our system that would have otherwise been on our planet forever.
“We thank all our followers on Facebook and Twitter for all the steps these people are taking to reduce their single use plastic consumption. It’s about the masses doing lots of little things, rather than a few people doing everything perfectly. Please keep doing what you can, it all makes a difference.
“We are so happy to reach this milestone. It is just that, a milestone to show we meet the minimum requirements; we are far from being plastic free but have made fantastic strides. There is so much more to be done and we will continue to work with businesses, sign up more champions, schools and hope to influence many more people to take action around their own lifestyle and habits.”
Search Plastic Free Leamington and Warwick on Facebook for more details or visit www.plasticfree.org.uk to find out about the plastic free community scheme.
