Plastic Free February: Plastic Fantastic – Or Is It?

2nd February 2018 Claire Meese

Plastic pollution is becoming one of the biggest man-made threats of the modern world, and at the rate the issue is growing, us kids (and our kids’ kids) are going to have to pick up one environmental clean-up bill in the future.

But we’re not bitter or full of doom and gloom. No, instead we are hopeful and optimistic that we can avert this crisis if we all do our bit and make a positive impact in 2018.

So, we are asking the people of Belper to join us in the fight against plastic pollution and to make becoming ‘Plastic Clever’ one of their New Year’s Resolution for the coming year.

Did you know?

Over the last 10 years humans have produced more plastic than during the last century.
Around 60% of this is single-use – used once and then thrown away, and about a truck’s worth of plastic enters the world’s oceans every single minute.
This contributes to the deaths of 1 million seabirds and 100,000 sea mammals every year, and it’s estimated that by the year 2050 there’ll be more plastic in the oceans than fish.

By the way, Plastic Clever doesn’t mean Plastic Free – that is actually very difficult to achieve. Becoming Plastic Clever is very simple and is all about you reducing the BIG 4 single-use plastic polluters (bags, cups + lids, straws and bottles). As well as helping the environment, it will probably save you a fair bit of money too.

Kids Against Plastic At Transition Belper’s Café In October

A New Year, a new start; How to become Plastic Clever in 2018

When buying a drink in a cafe or pub, say “No straw please!” and reduce the amount of single-use plastic straws you use
Carry a refillable coffee cup around with you so you don’t have to use a non-recyclable cup and lid again.
Use a refillable water bottle and get free fill ups from cafes and restaurants – it will save you a lot of money and it will cut down the amount of single-use plastic bottles you use.
Carry a bag for life and save money by not using single-use plastic bags.

Taking these steps and making some small changes may not seem like much, but if every one of us made these simple commitments, together this will lead to a huge positive impact.

WE WANT YOU! Plastic Clever Cafes and Businesses

Cafes, organisations and businesses are often responsible for using and distributing vast amounts of single-use plastic items: the BIG 4 plus plastic cutlery. But it doesn’t have to be this way!