Plastic Free
320 million tonnes of plastic was produced globally in 2016 and this is set to double by 2034. Society’s addiction to plastic has come about largely due to making our lives more convenient. Food and drink on the go, takeaways, grabbing a coffee etc but convenience has a consequence.
Single-use plastics are used briefly and only once, but their impacts are lasting. Plastic is durable, cheap to produce and we’re consuming it at a staggering rate – current estimates show that at least 8 million pieces of plastic are entering the oceans every single day.
A plastic bottle or coffee cup lid can last for 450 years in the marine environment, slowly fragmenting into smaller pieces which eventually end up microscopic, but never truly go away. This means that every piece of plastic that has ever been produced is still with us, in some form. Imagine if Queen Elizabeth 1 watched the Spanish Armada with a takeaway flat white in her hand, that cup and lid would still be floating in our seas!
Simple changes in a business can make dramatic differences. Getting rid of sachets and offering condiments from bottles; eradicating plastic straws but having paper straws available (only if required) and offering alternatives such as glass bottles or cans.
There are some brilliant Island businesses doing their bit to tackle plastic pollution…
- Caffé Isola, Newport
- The Old Barracks Tea Room, Puckpool
- The Dell Café, Ryde
- The Big Kahuna, Ryde
- The Wonky Café, Bembridge
- The Beach Shack Café, Sandown
- The Sundial Café, Sandown
- Tradewinds Café, Lake
- Rylstone Tea Rooms Shanklin
- South East Beach Café, Shanklin
- Lady Scarlett’s Tea Parlour, Ventnor
- Corries Cabin, Cowes
- Bliss Ice Cream Parlour, Cowes
- PO41 Coffee House, Yarmouth
- Tapnell Farm Park, Freshwater
- The Piano Café, Freshwater
- The Freshwater Coffee House, Freshwater
Check out Surfers Against Sewage at sas.org.uk for ideas, facts and ways to move forward in helping our beautiful oceans.
