In 2023, Corsham Town Council will be working to achieve plastic free community status for Corsham.
So what is the Plastic Free Community Campaign?
As explained in the video, Surfers Against Sewage are a marine conservation charity which formed in Cornwall in 1990 and more recently, in 2017 they set up the Plastic Free Community Campaign to inspire, unite and empower communities to protect oceans, beaches and wildlife by eliminating avoidable single-use plastic from our communities.
The plastic free campaign aims to tackle the single-use plastic crisis. Achieving the plastic free community status does not mean there is no plastic at all, it means that our community is starting work to reduce plastic pollution and are pulling together different aspects of the community; collaborating with everyone to bring about the cultural change we need to see to reduce plastic pollution. This means eliminating the avoidable single-use plastic products from our town such as plastic drinks bottles, disposable coffee cups, bathroom plastics, excessive food packaging, takeaway containers and so on. These are the things that have a huge impact on our environment and which we can make changes to eliminate them to prevent our streets, rivers, beaches and oceans being littered by single-use plastic.
Single-use Plastic, what’s the problem?
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. 12 million tonnes of plastic are pouring into the ocean every year. Plastic has been found in the deepest parts of the ocean, as far away as the Antarctic. Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years. Modern life has become completely reliant on the use of plastic from packaging our food to the PPE we all used to protect ourselves from Coronavirus during the pandemic. But it is destroying our natural environment, killing our wildlife and microplastics are poisoning humans. In 2020, microplastic particles were found in the placentas of unborn babies for the first time. The particles are likely to have been consumed or breathed in by the mothers.
You may be thinking why are we supporting Surfers Against Sewage when we live in Corsham? We don’t live near a coastline or ocean. But the main source of ocean plastic pollution is land-based—80% of plastic in the ocean originates on land. Even if you live hundreds of miles from the coast, the plastic you throw away could make its way into the sea. Once the plastic is in the ocean, it decomposes very slowly, breaking into tiny pieces known as microplastics, which can enter the marine food chain and become incredibly damaging to sea life. There are three main ways plastic ends up in the ocean:
- Throwing plastic in the bin when it could be recycled. Often when rubbish is being transported to landfill, plastic is blown away because it is so lightweight. This plastic eventually finds its way into drains and enters rivers and the sea.
- Littering- litter dropped on the street doesn’t stay there. Rainwater and wind carries plastic waste into streams, rivers and through drains leading to the ocean.
- Plastic products that go down the drain. Many products we use daily are flushed down the toilet such as wet wipes, cotton buds and sanitary products. Even microfibers are released into the waterways when we wash our clothes in the washing machine which end up being consumed by small marine species, which eventually ends up in our food chain!
The bottom line is. Whether we mean to litter or not, there’s always a chance the plastic we throw away could make it into the sea, and from there who knows? The only way to prevent plastic pollution is to stop using it in the first place!
So how can Corsham achieve plastic free community status?
There are five objectives which we are working towards to attain the Plastic Free Communities accreditation for Corsham. This forms the basis of what we hope will be long term change in our community. The five objectives are:
Objective 1: Local council makes a resolution supporting the journey to plastic free community status.
This objective is complete! The resolution was made and passed at the Corsham Town Council meeting on 14 November 2022. The motion states that the council will support all plastic-free initiatives in Corsham and that the council will lead by example and phase out single-use plastic in its own operations.
Objective 2: Six independently owned businesses in Corsham must remove at least three single-use items from their operations to qualify as a Plastic Free Business Champion. Six businesses in Corsham have already signed up and two businesses have achieved their Plastic Free business champion award. These businesses are:
- Green Ginger- achieved Plastic Free business champion award.
- Clear Vision Accountancy Limited- achieved Plastic Free business champion award.
- Lower Rudloe Farm- in progress
- If the shoe fits, Corsham- in progress
- No.3 The Deli- in progress
- Strawberry fields hair design limited- in progress
Legislative progress is also being made, which will mean in the future businesses will not be able to provide certain single-use plastic items. The government has announced that single-use items like plastic cutlery, plates and polystyrene trays will be banned in England. However, it is not clear when the ban will come into effect but it follows similar moves by Scotland and Wales.
Objective 3: Inspire the wider community to spread the plastic-free message by signing up 20 community allies to the plastic free campaign. These community allies will include schools, libraries, village halls, leisure centres, churches, guide and scout groups, environmental groups and sports clubs. To achieve this objective we need to encourage local schools to sign up to the Plastic Free Schools campaign, community spaces need to make the plastic free communities pledge and support the initiative by putting up awareness poster. Community organisations also need to make the Plastic Free Community Pledge.
Community allies to the Corsham Plastic Free campaign are:
- Corsham Climate Action
- St John’s Eco Church, Gastard
- 2nd Corsham Brownies
- Corsham 10K and 2K running event
- Corsham Library
- The Pound Arts Centre
- Corsham Town Council
- Springfield Campus
- Hazelbury Harrah running event
- Corsham Running Club
- Corsham Army Cadets
- Neston Primary School
- Corsham Walking Festival
- Fairtrade Corsham
- Corsham Cycling Club
- Corsham Rugby Club
- Corsham Primary School
- Verco Consultancy, Neston
Objective 4: At least two local community events must be arranged and made open for all to attend, in one calendar year.
This objective is complete! We launched the Plastic Free Corsham campaign at the Pounds Art Centre on Tuesday 24th January 2023 as part of the Corsham Climate Action ‘Not just a load of rubbish’ event which 50 people attended. Our second event took place during the Corsham Eco Fair on Saturday 22nd April 2023 which was attended by hundreds of Corsham residents and visitors to the town.
Objective 5: Set up a Plastic Free Community steering group (which must include a council representative and a flagship business employee) to meet at least twice a year to discuss the progress of plastic free communities locally.
This objective is complete! Councillor Jane Roberton has joined the steering group as the council representative and Gulliver, owner of Green Ginger has joined the steering group as a flagship business employee. The steering group has had four monthly meetings so far and has monitored the progress the town is making in working towards achieving the plastic free status.
Once we have completed these five objectives we will gain plastic free community status for Corsham from Surfers Against Sewage. But this really will be just the beginning of the journey. We know that we will have to go so much further to become truly plastic free however, we hope by achieving this status for the town it will act as a catalyst for the behaviour change we need to see to ditch our reliance on plastic and invest in sustainable alternatives. This campaign is creating a movement of people, businesses and organisations who want to eliminate avoidable single-use plastic. But we will not be able to achieve this status without the support of the community. We hope you will support us in our mission to eliminate single-use plastic in Corsham!
References:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution
https://plasticfree.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2020/09/Community-Toolkit_2021.pdf
