A local environmental campaigner is welcoming a modern and sustainable approach to Lent – giving up single-use plastics instead of the traditional chocolate or sugar.
As the public are becoming increasingly aware of the environmental damage of plastics, especially in coastal and seaside areas where it can harm sealife, the pledge to make a change appears stronger than ever before.
Angela Pooley, of East Dorset Friends of the Earth, said: ‘If people give up plastics for lent, and it makes them realise it is possible, to go without, then that’s a good thing.’
‘It’s not the consumer’s fault. It’s the manufacturers and supermarkets who are producing this plastic.’
‘If you go to the supermarkets, you see things wrapped in plastic. You don’t need bananas wrapped in a plastic bag. It’s crazy.’
But with WWF International releasing a report that predicts 300 million tonnes of plastic in the oceans by 2030, it simply isn’t enough for us alone to be voting with our money, or rejecting a plastic bag at the shopping tills.
Pooley said: ‘It’s not the consumer’s fault. It’s the manufacturers and supermarkets who are producing this plastic.’
East Dorset Friends of the Earth have taken a paper to government recently, and asked them to bring in legislation to prevent manufacturers from making so much plastic.
Recent reports have showed that 48 Conservative MPs have vowed to reduce their use of plastics for the 40 days of Lent.
It has also been announced today that environment minister Michael Gove has said he will be ‘minimising’ his use of disposable cups and other plastics.
