Abingdon has been awarded ‘Plastic Free Communities’ Status as it takes action on Single-Use Plastic.

Abingdon has joined a network of communities across the UK who are leading the way to tackle throw away plastic at source. Abingdon is the 65th Community to be awarded Plastic Free status by marine conservation charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in recognition of the work it has done to starting to reduce the impact of single-use plastic on the environment. (The picture was taken at Added Ingredients where people can refill containers with detergents and washing liquids

as well as coffee ground on the premises, and a large variety of teas.)

Local Leads Anne Smart and Caroline Townsend started the campaign last year due to rising concern about the amount of damage being done by plastic pollution, particularly to our marine environment and wildlife.

Abingdon Cuts Plastic is a sub-group of the longstanding environmental group Abingdon Carbon Cutters.

Anne says: ‘Our Town Council officially supports our initiatives, and many sectors of the community are doing their best to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use. Our MP, Layla Moran, is actively supporting our efforts to reduce the amount of plastic packaging used by local supermarkets.’

Eight local schools have joined our campaign, and we are encouraging others.

In October and April, Abingdon Cuts Plastic teamed up with Kingfisher canoe club and the litter-picking group AbiBinit, to hold two big river and riverbank clean-ups, which were well supported by lots of volunteers.

I was walking by the Edible Abingdon garden in the Abbey Gardens at lunchtime.

A blackbird came close when I sat on a bench for a moment – much closer than I would expect. He flew up to the back of the bench before flying back up to his perch. He may have mistaken me for somebody who feeds him.

In the Edible Abingdon patch, the chard looked good with the wavy yellow stems.

The purple headed chives also looked good with the yellow herbs behind.

Down near the other edible Abingdon garden patch, by the open air pool, there were a lot of geese cropping the grass among the daisies. There are two new benches, one dedicated to Alan Bryden (who found peace in nature), and another to David and Janet Morgan (who loved to walk by the river).

Volunteers carried out a litter pick along the River Thames in Abingdon today.

It was organised by the AbiBinit! the Abingdon Litter Picking Initiative and supported by Abingdon Cuts Plastic and the Kingfisher Canoe Club in conjunction with Surfers Against Sewage.

The event saw 60 people, including children, turning up to tackle the issue of litter along the River Thames.

Megan is seen here with her bags of rubbish picked from Culham to Abingdon.

Rubbish collected included seven traffic cones, three bicycles, a shopping trolley, a street lamp, 96 glass bottles, 13 bags of plastic waste, 75 bags of general waste, and fly tipping – lots of it!.

Events like this raise awareness about how much plastic and other harmful rubbish end up in the River Thames and along it’s banks. Bin it!

There is a McDonald’s Litter Pick for young people tomorrow.

Marchers began a five day walk from Oxford to London to raise awareness of the Climate Emergency. They arrived in Abingdon at lunchtime and had a meal at St Ethelwold’s House before leaving for Wallingford where they stay overnight.

Ginnie Herbert is one of a group of determined grandmothers who was part of the march. Others of all ages had joined her.

71 year old Ginnie said, ‘As a grandmother I am doing whatever I can to demand that the government acts now to cut the greenhouse gases which threaten the future of life on earth. I will not be quiet!’

The marchers have an urgent plea to those in positions of power ‘to listen to the voice of the People. We are marching for the future of the land beneath our feet, our winding rivers, our shorelines, the oceans and the very air we breathe.

We march for our children and grandchildren who, unless we are heard, might not know the Natural World, the richness and diversity of this Blue Planet, as we have been privileged to know it. ‘

They call it a pilgrimage for the planet. It will end in extinction rebellion in London.