I was out and about over the bank holiday weekend and it amazed me the number of bins that I spotted over flowing with rubbish and plastics.
When it comes to plastic we have got to do more to break up our relationship with this destructive and corrosive material that is polluting our oceans.
Torbay Council has made a start on encouraging the rest of Torbay to give up plastic by supporting a number of initiatives to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans.
The council has further shown their support for reducing the use of plastic by signing up to the Refill Devon scheme, which was launched by Devon Recycle and is supported by City to Sea and Beach Care.
30 business support refill devon scheme
The scheme, practically a tap water campaign, aims to make refilling your empty bottle as easy, convenient and as cheap as possible by introducing key refill points around the bay area.
Participating cafes, bars, restaurants, banks, galleries, museums and other businesses on the scheme will show a blue sticker in their window.
Over 30 businesses in Torbay have already signed up in support of the campaign, one of them is Abbey Refreshments in Torquay.
Abbey Refreshments are using cups of hot and cold drinks made from plants, not plastic.
Cups not made from plastic
The cups, are made from a polyactic acid from starch plants like corn.
Processed into a bipolymer that looks, acts and performs like a your typical petroleum plastic bottle.
Gordon Oliver, Torbay’s Elected Mayor said:
As a council we take our environmental responsibilities very seriously and we are taking part in a number of initiative to help reduce the amount of plastic products being used in Torbay. This includes phasing out the unnecessary use of single use plastics such as cups, cutlery and drinking straws in all council buildings and at all council events by July 2020.
I applaud local businesses and local communities who are taking steps to support a plastic free torbay. Using plant based cups is both practical and sustainable and we hope that other takeaways in Torbay will follow Abbey refreshment’s lead on this. I’d also encourage more local businesses to sign up for the Refill Devon scheme.
As a Torbay business you can help this scheme further by getting involved.
To do this contact Torbay Council’s Recycling Officer, Carol Arthur on 01803 207734.
Further details about the Refill Devon scheme can be found at: www.recycledevon.org/RefillDevon
