Campaign Activations, Campaign News, Community News, Government & Policy, Plastic Pollution, Refill & Reuse Posted — 16 August 2023
We’re swimming in plastic
This July, in a huge collaborative effort, our Plastic Free Community volunteers in Cornwall pulled together a one-of-a-kind event. They filled the iconic Jubilee Pool in Penzance with the equivalent of one weeks’ worth of plastic water bottles used in the town, and did a synchronized swim in them.
Why? To highlight the sheer scale of plastic pollution produced by just one single use plastic item. And to call out this year’s ‘Dirty Dozen’, as the 2023 Brand Audit named and shamed the UKs’ biggest plastic polluters.
10,000 used bottles were collected from homes and businesses by six Plastic Free Communities in Cornwall, supported by the SAS team. Each bottle had to be manually sorted, cleaned, stored, transported and then recycled after the event.
Spearheaded by Plastic Free Penzance, the event also aimed to show the local scale of plastic pollution created by the town from water bottles, and how one simple action of refill can make a huge difference. 100 people made a refill pledge during the event, meaning 15,000 less single use water bottles will be used in the town this year.
Paralympic surfer, Melissa Reid, also joined us for the event and made the re-fill pledge
“The whole community got involved, and that’s what made the event possible. From the public collecting at home, to businesses setting up their own collection points, and volunteers helping to collect, clean & process them. It was amazing to see everyone rally together to highlight the scale of the plastic problem we face. And also the community turning up on the night to support the event, make the refill pledge and help clean up the pool afterward. A true testament to people power”
Emma, SAS Plastic Free Communities Officer
Working with Plastic Free Penzance, volunteers from Plastic Free Marazion, Falmouth, Penryn, Helston and Bodmin as well as the SAS team in St Agnes connected with their own communities to collect and raise awareness. Resulting in captivating images to launch the 2023 Brand Audit and the actions we can take to continue pressuring the top polluting brands.
What is the Brand Audit?
The Brand Audit report is a yearly publication analysing data collected by SAS volunteers during our Million Mile Cleans – This year over 4,000 volunteers took part in 499 cleans.
The Brand Audit report found that the ‘Dirty Dozen’ companies were responsible for over two thirds (70%) of branded pollution collected in the UK over a 12-month period.
Read the Full Brand Audit report HERE
The Dirty Dozen must be held accountable for their pollution and driven to do more to adopt circular business models to reduce their plastic and (by extension) their carbon footprint. These industry giants have the power to save or condemn our ocean. At the moment they’re choosing the latter.
Izzy Ross, SAS Campaigns Manager
What can we do about it?
We are calling on the polluters to clean up their act by taking responsibility for the entire lifecycle of their products, reducing their packaging, and adopting circular business models.
>> Email the Dirty Dozen today and help us push for industry change
It is equally vital that the government introduces an ‘all-in’ deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers of all sizes and materials, including glass – and such schemes have been shown to be highly successful in other countries.
Unfortunately, the government continues to stall on plans, and SAS will continue to push for a well-designed DRS scheme to be implemented in the UK.
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