The first plastic free town accreditation in Bedfordshire was recently awarded to Shefford after many years work by the group Sustainable Shefford and, having been involved with some of that work, Rebecca Beattie has been inspired to try and do the same for Potton.

‘It feels like natural  progression from the work we’ve done with Potton Recycling to build on that and make efforts to reducing single use plastic in all our lives. I’m hopeful there are plenty of local residents who are willing to come with me on this journey too?!

What do we mean by ‘plastic free’ though? Plastic is used for anything and everything, and of course not all plastic is bad. The problem starts when it’s avoidable – used for a moment and then thrown away. Thanks to big business endlessly pushing it on us, we’re caught in a single use plastic trap and it’s choking the planet. Plastic in the environment breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces called micro plastics and nano plastics. These tiny particles enter the food chain, water supplies, the atmosphere and our bodies. With only 9% of plastic being recycled globally we know now that only by changing our habits and reducing our use of single use plastic are we going to get out of this mess.

Of course Potton is already very eco friendly – with many local initiatives. For example, I’ve loved seeing the reusable drinks glasses produced for Party on Potton! Some of you may remember many years ago when local residents signed up for Plastic Free Potton and they focussed on reducing plastic bags by delivering every household in Potton with a cotton bag printed ‘Cotton for Potton’. This is the power of grassroots movements driving change that eventually becomes socially normal – nowadays we think nothing of taking our reusable bags when we go shopping. I’m hoping we can all join in and find new ways to reduce single use plastic in our community.’

If you want to read more about this, the main website is www.plasticfree.org.uk. If you have an idea or want to get involved please get in touch via enquiries@pottontowncouncil.gov.uk or come along to a council Environment Committee meeting. You can find the date of the next meeting here.