Harlow Council has come together with other local authorities to do their bit for our planet and is encouraging residents to join them and ‘Love Essex Not Plastic’.
The Essex-wide 2020 campaign aims to tackle the amount of waste across the county by highlighting the issue of single-use plastic and urging households to switch to reusable options and recycle more.
The campaign launched on the 6 January with adverts on Heart Radio and social media, inspiring Essex residents to make a New Year’s resolution and say no to single-use plastic by taking the Love Essex Plastic Pledge. Throughout the year there will be easy swap ideas, such as ditching single-use plastic cups, bottles, straws and bags – switching to reusable ones instead. By focusing on one item every month and making one small change at a time, together we can make a difference.
Each year, around 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced and 40% of that is single-use plastic such as drinks bottles, carrier bags and coffee cups. However, in the UK, only 57% of plastic bottles are collected to be recycled.
Councillor Danny Purton, Harlow Council’s portfolio holder for Environment, said: “Thanks to programmes such as Blue Planet II and Drowning in Plastic, we’ve all seen the devastating impact of becoming a plastic planet. 2020 is a year of change and now it’s even more vital we all do whatever is necessary to deplete our reliance on single-use plastic. If everyone in Essex used one less plastic bottle, we’d save 1.5million bottles alone.”
If you want to be a part of the Love Essex plastic solution, take the Essex Plastic Pledge at www.loveessex.org/plasticpledge
