Members of Abingdon Cuts Plastic, part of Abingdon Carbon Cutters, were in the Market Place this Friday encouraging people to take part in Plastic Free July by making a simple pledge to reduce their use of single-use plastics.
Visitors were invited to choose one small change to make. Suggestions included carrying a reusable water bottle or coffee cup, buying fruit and vegetables loose rather than wrapped in plastic, or swapping cling film for reusable containers.
Other ideas included trying shampoo bars, choosing paper-wrapped toilet rolls, using refill stations for household cleaning products and switching to plastic-free tea bags or loose tea leaves.
The group highlighted that household cleaners such as washing-up liquid, laundry liquid and toilet cleaner can be refilled locally at the refill station at Oxford Wood Recycling.
The aim is to reduce plastic waste and keep unnecessary plastic out of rivers, seas and the wider environment. If you look at the campaign website ( https://abingdoncarboncutters.org.uk/what/abingdon-cuts-plastic/ ) you will see it was first launched in 2018, thanks to Anne Smart, and they are giving it a new push. There is an up to date 2026 Plastics leaflet under the campaign website.
I happened to find.myself.having an MRI scan this week…and coincidentally it happened to strike me just how much plastic there was….it is literally everywhere. I mean EVERYWHERE.
Plastic is the literal and figurative fabric of modern Western life. It is an inescapable material that shapes how we live, eat, communicate, and think.
It’s all very well advocating “plastic free”; but by free do you mean replace it; or is the aim to remove all the elements of society that have become reliant on it – and if so, how far would you be willing to rollback progress and advancements that it’s brought us? It’ll be like trying to replace water.
I think the “Plastic-Free’ slogan is misleading. When the campaign was started it was mainly about reducing the use of single-use plastic items and indeed the ideas suggested in Backstreeter’s report are mainly on those lines. I am not aware of any suggestions to stop its use in the sort of things Daniel and PPS mention (apart maybe yoghurt pots).
All those PVC doors and window frames (which our rented house has) will not be so easily replaced. My yoghurt cartons, my TV remote control, my LP collection – all plastic.
I’m with Daniel.