WASTE NOT...
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HE TIDE IS TURNING: single use plastic simply isn’t fantastic anymore. And the biggest indication of this sea change is the Government recently announcing that it’s to launch a consultation on banning products such as plastic straws and drink stirrers later this year. As Environment Secretary Michael Gove acknowledged at the time: ‘We’ve already seen a number of retailers, bars and restaurants stepping up to the plate and cutting plastic use, however it’s only through Government, businesses and the public working together that we will protect our environment for the next generation.’ By last summer, global movement The Last Plastic Straw had already reached Norwich, with Gonzo’s Tea Room, The Plasterers Arms, North and Frank’s Bar all calling on customers to get on board. Since then the number of bars and restaurants which have banned plastic straws has grown – latest examples include Revolution and Revolución de Cuba in Norwich, championing #TheFinalStraw and #NoStrawPorFavor, banning all plastic straw purchasing and helping to put an end to Revolution Bar Group’s annual 30 million order in the UK. Aldeburgh’s seafront Brudenell Hotel has joined the anti-plastic movement and given up using plastic straws and drink stirrers for its drinks - these have been replaced with paper straws and wooden stirrers (The White Lion, Brudenell’s sister hotel in Aldeburgh, has plans to follow suit in the near future). The Fur and Feather in Woodbastwick is plastic straw free, as is The Black Horse on Earlham Road, in Norwich. The Government announcement follows a pledge to introduce a deposit return scheme, for single use drinks containers, including bottles and cans, which brings us neatly to festivals, the new front in the war on plastic. Organisers of this year’s Latitude Festival will be tackling
With the Government recently announcing an end to the sale of plastic straws and drink stirrers, Emma Outten looks at what the food and drink industry in this region is doing to reduce plastic waste - as well as food waste environmental issues by continuing to ban single use plastic items at the traders’ stalls, using reusable cups to minimise waste from single use cups, and running the bottle deposit return scheme again this year. As for our retailers, The Green Grocers in Norwich has spent the past 10 years adhering to the ‘reduce, recycle reuse’ maxim, and introduced hoppers a year ago, with the aim of reducing single use plastic. Manager Jonathan Pace adds: ‘We now offer 95 per cent of our fruit and veg plastic free and we’re working with our suppliers to try and make that 100 per cent. We’re promoting reusable coffee cups by offering 20p off a cup of coffee if you bring your own cup. A shocking statistic puts the number of coffee cups thrown away in the UK alone at 2.5 billion a year. We believe 2018 will be the year that reuse becomes the new norm and we’re delighted to be able to help play our small part in that.’ They’ve also signed up to be a filling station for free tap water initiative Refill Norwich.
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