THE campaign to make Chester the UK’s first city to stop using plastic drinking straws is holding a public meeting as part of a “zero waste” action week.
#StrawFreeChester, which was launched by Dr Christian Dunn, is calling for anyone interested in the campaign to attend a meeting on Saturday, January 20, at 6.30pm, in the Piper Pub, Hoole.
The initiative wants to encourage businesses and residents to stop using single-use plastic drinking straws as a way of reducing environmental-damaging plastic waste.
Dr Dunn, from Hoole, started the campaign and petition at the end of 2017 with the goal of making the city the first in the UK to become “straw free”.
It came as the media spotlight turned towards the issue of plastic being dumped in the world’s oceans, described by the United Nations as a “planetary crisis”.
Dr Dunn, who is a lecturer at Bangor University, said: “So far there has been some tremendous support for #StrawFreeChester particularly from the Chester Conservatives and the local Friends of the Earth group.
“But I really want to get more individuals, businesses and groups on-board which is why we’re holding a public meeting, open to anyone interested in volunteering and getting involved in #StrawFreeChester, and reducing plastic waste in general,” he said.
The meeting will form part of the Zero Waste Chester Week of Action, which is being organised by Friends of the Earth (FoE) Chester and District group.
Helen Tandy, from the group, said: “Plastic waste is an environmental disaster and it’s imperative we all do what we can to fight it in Chester.”
“We want to make Chester not just the first city in the UK to ditch single-use plastic straws but also to start leading the way in cutting all plastic waste – and we want to kick-start this with our action week,” she explained.
Alongside the #StrawFreeChester meeting the Zero Waste Chester Week of Action also includes a special viewing of Plastic Shores by Ed Scott-Clarke, on Thursday, January 18, in the Quaker Meeting House at 7.30pm.
This inspiring film is not currently available to view elsewhere and has been arranged in agreement with Mr Scott-Clarke himself.
For more information on the action week please contact Helen Tandy helenchesterfoe@hotmail.com
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