Sometimes we can – but only normally in Cornwall – please email us!
If you are a business who has joined the campaign, then use our logo by all means, for all other uses please email us. You can download it here:
Sometimes we can – but only normally in Cornwall – please email us!
We are a small team but yes we can try to come to your school if you are local – otherwise we know lots of other plastic campaigners and other charities who operate locally who can help. We can als provide materials and a slide show for school assemblies if we cannot attend in person so please contact us.
No, we are a not for profit run by volunteers and we rely solely on donations to keep going!
We are a team of three directors based in Cornwall.
1) Refuse plastic items when offered and ask businesses not to offer them. You can carry your own re-usable cutlery, cups and bottles to make the point! (we even keep our own bottle of tomato sauce in the car for those sneaky fish and chip suppers at the beach – much better than getting a single use sachet!)
2) Only buy paper straws for parties. And then compost them. Straight in your compost bin. If you haven’t got a compost bin, add them to your cardboard recycling. That way you keep them in the loop. And stop them becoming part of the plastics pollution problem.
3) Write or email larger national companies and supermarkets to ask them to think about changing away from plastic where you see it as unnecessary packaging
4) Contact bars and cafes in your own town, say you’re a customer, and that you’re looking for places to frequent with your mates that don’t use single use plastic items .
5) Ask your Councillor and MP to support plastic reduction initiatives
6) Join one of our beach cleans – find out more here
The business case for using less plastic is not just environmental.
There are compelling financial benefits too, including:
– Cost savings: Reducing the amount of waste your business produces will always save money and one business we know saved £100s a year by not giving out unnecessary straws anymore!
– Enhanced brand reputation – customers are on the look out for ethical brands
– Recognition by sustainable bodies, such as Green Tourism Awards
– More engaged employees
– Increased sales from eco-friendly customers
– AND the opportunity to shout about the positive changes you’ve mad
We recommend that all businesses carry bio-degradable papers straws as a back up for those that need them, but other alternatives are metal retractable straws which cost around £7 each and are ideal for personal use.
Reducing all waste is the key to being environmentally friendly. So no plastic item at all is the best option (with a supply of your own items like re-usable straws or cutlery as a back up for when a customer does really need to use one). You will SAVE MONEY by not giving away so much plastic! An added bonus is that you can feel good about helping to keep our beaches clean.
Compostable means it breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate similar to paper and breaks down into small pieces in about 90 days, so that you don’t even recognise the original item, and it leaves no toxic residue. Unfortunately many items that are marketed as ‘compostable’ are not unless they are put into industrial grade composters, and there are none in Cornwall so most ‘compostable’ packaging goes straight to the incinerator in Cornwall.
What are ‘Degradable plastics’
Degradable plastics are petroleum based products that break up through chemical reactions in an anaerobic environment/ light/ oxygen into water, CO2, biomass and trace elements.
What are Biodegradable plastics?
What does ‘Compostable’ mean?
Conclusion:
Single use products made from plants are better than single use products made from oil-based plastic, but no ‘single use’ product is the best solution of all! In addition anything that is made of ‘bio-plastic’ or says is degradable, compostable or bio-degradeable must go into normal waste collections in Cornwall as they is no way of recycling it here. This means this is a waste of expensive materials and they stil cause litter in the environment and sea when these items are not properly disposed of in the bin.
Good question. Plastic particles are now regularly found in the fish and shellfish we eat, so toxic chemicals are entering the human food chain with health implications. Not only that, but we all like to visit the sea if we can and we hope it’s going to be unpolluted when we do, so this is a problem for everyone in the UK whether you live near the sea or not! It is also worth remembering that all drains and sewers where litter often ends up, lead to the sea – so it is sometimes only a short amount of time before litter from inland finds its way to the sea. Whether it is cigarette butts, PPE or compostable cups, all waste needs to be disposed of properly – or, better yet, not made at all!
And all recycling has some environmental costs, (including more vehicles on the road collecting waste and taking it to be recycled.. Best not to use it!
Nearly all types of plastics can be recycled, but the extent to which they are depends on factors such as whether the technology is available in the area you live.
Many recycling collections in the UK have focused on key packaging types, for example plastic bottles, which are heavier than most other plastics and therefore relatively easy to sort.
Often plastics can consist of more than one polymer type, which makes it more difficult to recycle.
Once plastic items are contaminated by food waste they cannot be put in recycling unless washed first. Even then, if they are black) they cannot be recycled anyway. Unfortunately as so many single use plastic items used in the hospitality sector are so small and lightweight (sauce sachets, cutlery, PPE) they frequently drop through the sorting screens, contaminate other recycling and are scattered by the wind to become litter. So the best thing is to avoid them. The risk of them causing damage in the environment then goes down to zero.
Plastics don’t biodegrade, so can cause big problem to all sorts of animals that try to eat them or get caught up in them; they leach toxic chemicals into the ground, and if they are incinerated they release harmful toxins polluting the air.
If you are a business who has joined the campaign, then use our logo by all means, for all other uses please email us.
Sometimes we can – but only normally in Cornwall – please email us!
We are a small team but yes we can try to come to your school if you are local – otherwise we know lots of other plastic campaigners and other charities who operate locally who can help. We can als provide materials and a slide show for school assemblies if we cannot attend in person so please contact us.
No, we are a not for profit run by volunteers and we rely solely on donations to keep going!
We are a team of three directors based in Cornwall.
1) Refuse plastic items when offered and ask businesses not to offer them. You can carry your own re-usable cutlery, cups and bottles to make the point! (we even keep our own bottle of tomato sauce in the car for those sneaky fish and chip suppers at the beach – much better than getting a single use sachet!)
2) Only buy paper straws for parties. And then compost them. Straight in your compost bin. If you haven’t got a compost bin, add them to your cardboard recycling. That way you keep them in the loop. And stop them becoming part of the plastics pollution problem.
3) Write or email larger national companies and supermarkets to ask them to think about changing away from plastic where you see it as unnecessary packaging
4) Contact bars and cafes in your own town, say you’re a customer, and that you’re looking for places to frequent with your mates that don’t use single use plastic items .
5) Ask your Councillor and MP to support plastic reduction initiatives
6) Join one of our beach cleans – find out more here
The business case for using less plastic is not just environmental.
There are compelling financial benefits too, including:
– Cost savings: Reducing the amount of waste your business produces will always save money and one business we know saved £100s a year by not giving out unnecessary straws anymore!
– Enhanced brand reputation – customers are on the look out for ethical brands
– Recognition by sustainable bodies, such as Green Tourism Awards
– More engaged employees
– Increased sales from eco-friendly customers
– AND the opportunity to shout about the positive changes you’ve mad
We recommend that all businesses carry bio-degradable papers straws as a back up for those that need them, but other alternatives are metal retractable straws which cost around £7 each and are ideal for personal use.
Reducing all waste is the key to being environmentally friendly. So no plastic item at all is the best option (with a supply of your own items like re-usable straws or cutlery as a back up for when a customer does really need to use one). You will SAVE MONEY by not giving away so much plastic! An added bonus is that you can feel good about helping to keep our beaches clean.
Compostable means it breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate similar to paper and breaks down into small pieces in about 90 days, so that you don’t even recognise the original item, and it leaves no toxic residue. Unfortunately many items that are marketed as ‘compostable’ are not unless they are put into industrial grade composters, and there are none in Cornwall so most ‘compostable’ packaging goes straight to the incinerator in Cornwall.
What are ‘Degradable plastics’
Degradable plastics are petroleum based products that break up through chemical reactions in an anaerobic environment/ light/ oxygen into water, CO2, biomass and trace elements.
What are Biodegradable plastics?
What does ‘Compostable’ mean?
Conclusion:
Single use products made from plants are better than single use products made from oil-based plastic, but no ‘single use’ product is the best solution of all!
Good question. Plastic particles are now regularly found in the fish and shellfish we eat, so toxic chemicals are entering the human food chain with health implications. Not only that, but we all like to visit the sea if we can and we hope it’s going to be unpolluted when we do, so this is a problem for everyone in the UK whether you live near the sea or not!
And all recycling has some environmental costs, including more vehicles on the road.
Nearly all types of plastics can be recycled, but the extent to which they are depends on factors such as whether the technology is available in the area you live.
Many recycling collections in the UK have focused on key packaging types, for example plastic bottles, which are heavier than most other plastics and therefore relatively easy to sort.
Often plastics can consist of more than one polymer type, which makes it more difficult to recycle.
Once plastic items are contaminated by food waste they cannot be put in recycling unless washed first. Even then, if they are black) they cannot be recycled anyway. Unfortunately as so many single use plastic items used in the hospitality sector are so small and lightweight (sauce sachets, cutlery, PPE) they frequently drop through the sorting screens, contaminate other recycling and are scattered by the wind to become litter. So the best thing is to avoid them. The risk of them causing damage in the environment then goes down to zero.
Plastics don’t biodegrade, so can cause big problem to all sorts of animals that try to eat them or get caught up in them; they leach toxic chemicals into the ground, and if they are incinerated they release harmful toxins polluting the air.
Copyright © 2022 Final Straw Cornwall.
Final Straw Cornwall CIC: Company No. 13570151