Plastics

The big issue is disposable plastics, otherwise known as single-use plastics, of which represents about 40% of all plastic produced. Cheap single-use plastics are items such as bottles and carrier bags, that you may often see polluting our hedgerows and rivers within the borough. Not only are they unsightly, but these pollutants can harm local wildlife, and travel by river to sea and frighteningly enter our food chain. In fact, small pieces of plastic have been detected in beer, salt, seafood and human stools.

We are becoming a plastic planet. But we don’t have to – if we reduce our plastic consumption, reuse where we can and recycle the rest, we will be well on our way to a cleaner and more sustainable future.

–  Give up on wet wipes – Wet wipes are single-use plastics that last lifetimes in the natural environment (predicted to be 500 years). Try using reusable cloth or flannel, or some water and some ultra-gentle toilet paper (depending on what you’re using them for…!) instead of ‘flushable’ wipes.
–  Pick skincare and cleaning products that have refillable packs – Refillables are important as often the spray systems in these types of bottles aren’t recyclable and they go straight to landfill. By reusing the original bottle and refilling it from a larger bottle you can keep your home and your environment clean at the same time! It’s much cheaper too – and you can get really pretty reusable soap dispensers and so on if you wish.

Please watch the video at the top of this page for more ideas.