In moving to halt ‘single-use plastic’ Stroud District Councillors are responding to a national mood, maybe even a shared grief, as we witnessed on Blue Planet the impact of plastic on our treasured beaches, shoreline and seas.
Stroud District Council (SDC) is joining around 200 other communities in the UK that are aiming to ditch single-use plastic (1).
The motion had cross-Party support and was proposed by Catherine Braun (Green, Wotton-under-Edge) and seconded by Paul Denney (Labour, Cam West).
The Council approved the motion unanimously at its meeting April 26.
SDC is now committed to ending the purchase and procurement of single use plastics through the Council’s supply chain by 2025 and to stopping the sale of single use plastic products at council sites and events by 2020.
Cllr Braun said “I’m delighted that there was such strong support from all political parties for this motion. The joy we take in our coast and beaches, and our history as an island nation, mean that we have a special connection with the sea. By making these changes our council is taking action to protect the natural environment for future generations, and helping local businesses and residents to use products that protect our streams, rivers and oceans.”
Local businesses are leading the way. The Loose Plastic Free Shop in Stroud has only been trading for a couple of weeks but is already reporting huge support.
Shop owner Julie Brown said “Every day, through the unexpectedly high level of interest in my tiny shop, I am hearing a genuine desire and willingness in people to change their habits in response to the dreadful plastic crisis we have all helped create. Those of us who are in a position to do so have a duty to do everything possible to make these changes happen.”
Cllr Paul Denney added “Over 8 million tons of plastic ends up in our oceans each year. Traveling on ocean currents plastic has reached every corner of the earth. In Stroud District we are now taking steps to stop our oceans turning into a plastic soup. Working together we can protect ocean wildlife and stop plastic ending up in the food chain”.
Notes –
Motion 8b in full https://www.stroud.gov.uk/media/640473/agenda-26-april-2018.pdf – passed 26th April
An action plan, setting out how this will be achieved by 2020, will be developed by councillors in a follow up group, and reported to the Strategy & Resources Committee meeting in July