Inside plastic-free community with biodegradable coffee cups, glass bottles and bamboo toothbrushes
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A Welsh village has just been officially recognised as a plastic-free community, swapping plastic for biodegradable coffee cups, glass bottles and bamboo toothbrushes.
Local shops in Aberporth are opting for loose leaf tea, rice in a paper box, bread in a wax wrapper and wooden clothes pegs.
But the way of life can be daunting for businesses, who used to use plastic every day.
That’s the point made by Gethin James, a café owner in Aberporth, who spoke to Wales Online.
“The title ‘ plastic-free was a little bit frightening,” says Mr James, as we look out onto the immaculate Aberporth sand from his beach-side cafe.
“First of all, our beach here is spotless. I didn’t want Aberporth to be seen as having a huge litter problem.
“Secondly, as someone whose business is 25 to 30% takeaway coffee cups, my initial thought was ‘what am I supposed to do?’”
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
This reluctance is understandable when one considers the harsh reality of operating a business in a small seaside community.
Business might boom come the summer months, but even a mild winter can create a frosty ambience if there’s nobody coming through the door.
It is late January and there is nobody here.
Asking small business owners who have to cut their cloth with precision to fork out more for non-plastic forks is a difficult task.
“I was sceptical,” Mr James admits. “But, once the campaign was explained to me, it made perfect sense.”
That campaign was the brainchild of local filmmaker Gail Tudor. She went on a boat trip around the UK last summer and came back with a burning intention to make a difference, and a belief that something could, and had to be done, even in a small community like Aberporth.
What Gail discovered was something far more dangerous than simple littering, something that could have a direct effect not just on wildlife and the environment, but on human health.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
“Microplastics is the real problem,” she said. “They collect toxins that end up in fish and then end up in us, in our food chain.”
Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastic that have been degraded from larger plastic debris.
One particular type - microbeads - are a more prevalent concern as they live in a number of everyday products and are small enough to pass through water filtration systems, meaning they eventually make a home for themselves in our seas.
Upon her return to Aberporth, Gail set about approaching local businesses to change their ways, to make a stand and show the way for the rest of the village, the county, the country.
First, people in New Quay took a stand against the potential removal of their all-weather lifeboat, then residents in St Davids fought back against a hotel giant, and now the people of Aberporth are waging a battle against plastic, and, more pertinently, waging a war against a way of life that could have serious implications for generations to come.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
“We’re a feisty bunch in west Wales,” says Gilly Llewelyn, one of those involved in the fight.
“I wanted to get people interested,” says Gail. “We set up a steering committee and a Facebook page and approached local businesses. In order to be classed as a ‘plastic-free community’ we had to get three businesses to agree to give up three single-use plastic items.
“People were quite keen to get on board - a lot of people turned up to our initial meeting and our MP Ben Lake came down to see us and offered his support.”
One gets the sense that although people’s intentions were good, the campaign needed something, perhaps an air of urgency or a semblance of panic.
In December, that came.
When the final episode of Blue Planet II aired on the BBC in December, it depicted in detail the devastating effect that plastic can have.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
Creatures were unknowingly feeding plastic to their young. Viewers were horrified, and the programme’s presenter, Sir David Attenborough, closed the show by saying: “The future of all life now depends on us.”
It had an effect across the country, including in Aberporth.
“That programme really hit home with people,” said Gethin James. “I didn’t know about microbeads and the sheer volume of plastic in the ocean.
“Once I saw this and the plastic-free group explained the reasoning behind the campaign, that was enough for me to get involved.”
Gethin, a former county councillor who opened the Cwtch Glanmordy cafe in 2015, has since pledged to use wooden cutlery instead of plastic cutlery, paper straws instead of plastic straws, and he will keep his sauce in glass bottles rather than hand out plastic sachets to his customers.
The biggest change, however, is with regards to his biggest seller - coffee.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
“Coffee cups aren’t recyclable - they have a plastic lining and the lids are plastic.
“But I’ve now found this product made with a cornstarch lining which is compostable - this is where I can make the bigest impact.
“The problem is, what I currently use costs around 9p per unit; the new material would cost up to 25p per unit, so we need to find ways to make it more cost effective.
“There should be a levy on plastic products, so the cost is met from there, not at the other end."
In the village pub, expensive decisions have been made.
Paper straws are being used now instead of plastic ones, despite costing ten times more.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
The man who made that decision has no doubts whatsoever that it’s the correct one; the short-term cost to the pub’s balance sheet paling in significance to the long-term cost to the environment.
“When Gail started this, I was all over it,” says Oliver Box, whose parents own The Ship Inn.
“When I decided to get involved, I didn’t know anything about the extra cost, but it hasn’t put me off. I want to do the right thing.
“I tell my kids not to throw things away. I’ve grown up by the beach and you see chip wrappers and litter everywhere, but it isn’t a littering problem; people put things in bins, but they blow out of the bins.
“I’ve seen plastic sachets on the beach and once they’re on the sand they don’t go anywhere, until they end up in the sea.
“What has happened here is amazing. I’ve seen cars pull in to the car park opposite the pub, and people get out and clean up the beach.”
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
So what is caused this change in behaviour? Why are people in a village with a population of fewer than 2,000 people trying to make a difference?
“It’s a Welsh thing,” added Oliver. “People are proud of what they get to see, but I believe you just need people to make it happen, and it has in Aberporth.
“It’s made a difference already. I’ve found someone who provides compostable straws that you can put into your food waste, so manufacturers are obviously listening.”
London House Stores, which acts as the town’s nucleus, was one of the first and most passionate proponents of the campaign.
It’s the very definition of a local shop. You can’t speak to the owner, Mike Allen, for more than 90 seconds without someone coming in to purchase an everyday item.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
The relationship that Mike has built up with his customers since taking over the shop eight years ago has not suffered since he started to sell milk in glass bottles, loose leaf tea, rice in a paper box as opposed to plastic packets, bread in a wax wrapper, wooden clothes pegs, and bamboo toothbrushes.
“We’re not forcing people to join the plastic-free revolution,” says Mike. “We’re giving people a choice. People can chose to be a part of it rather than feeling forced into it.
But there must be people in Aberporth who are against the campaign?
“There’s nobody who’s actively against it,” says Mike.
“There’s been some cynicism about being labelled ‘plastic-free’ because it’s impossible to be totally plastic-free, but we’re trying.
“We need to deal with our own waste, and we need to be responsible for our own waste. The less we produce, the less there is to deal with.”
Mid and West Wales Assembly Member Simon Thomas is proud that a community in his home county has achieved what it has. But, he says, it is just the beginning.
He is now calling on the Welsh Government to introduce a levy on single-use plastics, something that he believes will give more people in Wales the opportunity, and the incentive, to make a difference.
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
(Image: South Wales Evening Post)
“I’m very pleased that the first Welsh community to get this status is in Ceredigion,” said Mr Thomas.
“I’ve been really struck by the change in public attitudes. I think people have realised the scale of the pollution problem.
“There was interest before, but the Blue Planet programme came along and interest soared.
“The 25-year plan is an England-only plan, and recycling in Wales is generally much better, and I’m currently lobbying for a levy to be introduced on single-use plastics, which would hopefully make alternatives more attractive to people.”
The powers that be in Cardiff Bay say a “plastic-tax” is a real possibility, and that the idea could be moved forward later this month.
“We recognise the strong support for a disposable plastic tax,” a Welsh Government spokeswoman said.
“It is one of the four shortlisted new tax ideas, which we are considering as part of the process to test the Wales Act 2014 powers.
“We have been exploring all four proposals over the last six months and the Finance Secretary will announce next month which tax idea he intends to take forward to the UK Government to test the Act.”
Before leaving Aberporth, a stroll on the beach reveals the regard in which this village is held by the people who work and live in it.
There are no wrappers here, no bottle tops, no plastic cutlery, no plastic bags.
What lies beyond and below the waves, however, is out of sight. This community is making sure it’s not out of mind.