Bid to make Stamford a 'plastic-free' town by ending single-use plastic
A Stamford resident has launched a community campaign to rid the town of single-use plastic.
Aled Pattinson, 31, became interested in reducing plastic waste after watching the David Attenborough series Blue Planet II .
The father-of-one said: “I grew up on the coast in west Wales and so to see the effect plastic has on our seas and the environment in general is worrying to say the least.
“I decided to stop having any single-use plastic items at home a little while ago, and once you get into the right mindset when you go shopping it becomes very satisfying to know that you are doing your bit to prevent environmental harm.
“It’s something I would like to encourage more people to do in Stamford.
“Many businesses could quite easily stop using single-use plastic items, and if lots of people makes this relatively small change, we will be well on our way to ending single-use plastic in town.”
Earlier this year, the Mercury highlighted the work of 'Waste Warriors' in a series of articles about who help to keep the area free of litter and waste.
Aled, a media sales consultant for the Mercury, has signed up with Surfers Against Sewage to be the community leader of their Plastic-Free Communities project in Stamford, and is now keen to set up a steering group of interested parties.
“I’d like to hear from people who represent different community groups in Stamford, such as town and district councillors, business leaders and schools.
“Once a steering group is created, it can help to promote awareness activities in the community, bringing more people on board."
Some of the community activities could include ‘mass unwraps’ that see shoppers leave plastic wrappings at shops and supermarkets to encourage big-name brands to change their packaging policies.
The Plastic Free-Communities scheme is co-ordinated by Surfers Against Sewage and sets out a plan to help communities become ‘plastic free’.
There are more than 600 towns and villages in the UK that have achieved - or are working to achieve - ‘plastic-free’ status.
Anyone interested in getting in touch with Aled can contact him via the e-mail plasticfreestamford@gmail.com
Surfers Against Sewage is a marine conservation charity that with communities to protect oceans, waves, beaches and marine life.
It was created in 1990 to tackle sewage in seawater, but has more recently turned its attention to plastic waste.
It says:
- Half of all manufactured plastic has been made in the past 15 years (National Geographic)
- 8.3bn tonnes of plastic has been produced since the 1950s and only 9 per cent has been recycled (The Guardian)
- Every day 8m pieces of plastic find their way into the sea (Surfers Against Sewage)
