After the disturbing scenes recently publicised on David Attenborough’s ‘Blue Planet’ showing plastic waste in our oceans, more and more towns and villages have been motivated to stop using plastic and turn to more sustainable and environmentally friendly materials.

My home town of Cardigan is one of the towns driving to become one of the first plastic free communities in Wales, following the lead of neighbouring Aberporth who recently secured plastic free status and became the first plastic free community in Wales. The people of Cardigan have long been known for banding together in times of need and that’s exactly what’s happening here. Many long-standing locals as well as newcomers to the area have been brainstorming ideas on how the town could secure a plastic free status. Fortnightly meetings at the Small World Theatre who are working towards complying with the objectives of Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and Plastic Free Coastlines have yielded good results as many ideas have been placed forward by individuals and local businesses to help reduce the amount of plastic in Cardigan.

Many small scale local businesses often see plastic free products to be slightly more expensive, so one idea that was proposed was that all local businesses that would be interested in buying these products would do it together in bulk to save money. This idea was well supported by the meeting organisers as well as businesses such as the recently opened Tom Samways Butchers on the high street. Another idea proposed at the meeting was beach cleans to take place across local beaches including Poppit beach in St Dogmaels and Patch Beach in Gwbert. Since the meeting Poppit Beach has been swept clean and there will be a beach clean at Patch on the 24th of February at 10am.

Whilst scrolling through the ‘Plastic Free Cardigan Town’ Facebook page, which has amassed 364 members, as well as talking with some local shop and business owners, I have come to the conclusion that a high percentage of these business owners would be interested in joining the fight against un-needed plastic use. These businesses include Belotti’s Delicatessen & Coffee House, the Castle Café on Quay Street and Queens Bakery in Pendre. In addition to this, Cardigan Arms fish and chip shop on College Row have begun the transition to becoming a plastic free establishment. After a visit to the local restaurant and having a conversation with the owner, I found out that going plastic free would not only benefit the environment around us, but it would also save money for local businesses. She said that using paper instead of a polystyrene is cheaper, as each polystyrene box costs 14p to buy. If this trend of not using paper continues, the chip shop is going to have put its prices up which is a negative for local people. In addition to this I visited Dewi James’ Butcher based on the high street and asked them some questions regarding going plastic free. I spoke with Dafydd Davies whose grandfather was the original owner of the shop, and asked him some questions about what they’re doing to help the drive to become a plastic free town. He said, ‘As a longstanding servant of Cardigans high street, we feel it’s only right that we participate in all community activities and it’s a benefit that this activity is for the good of the environment’. Mr Davies then went on to explain that customers can now bring their own, reusable containers to carry meat when they are shopping. If they do this a small discount is placed on the order. A couple of other coffee shops and cafes are also offering this incentive but implementing it in a different way. They’re offering a discount on teas/coffees if the customer brings their own reusable mug. In addition to this, Belotti’s Delicatessen & Coffee House on High Street have already committed to changes such as removing plastic drinking straws, swapping plastic bottles for glass and using paper instead of plastic bags. This trend of giving discounts is also seen in much smaller companies like ‘The Cupcake Company’ which is being run by Emily Marston. She has also reverted to using some plastic free materials and is offering discounts to people that bring their own containers to the stall.

Whilst researching this topic to a more national stage I found out Tesco, a national retailer which has a store in Cardigan, plans to phase out all plastic packaging by replacing them with recyclable and compostable material by the year 2025. In addition to this, a petition bearing 600+ was recently presented to the Tesco and Aldi stores in Cardigan which highlighted the need to get ride if unnecessary plastic as well as getting rid of single use plastic bags used for fruit, veg and bread. The petition was accepted by managers of both stores and will be taken into consideration. Matt Broome, one of the people behind Teifi Plastic Free Community which covers not just Cardigan, but the whole of the Teifi Valley says that ‘It’s not just the independent shops but also the big stores that can make a difference and I think people care’. In the future this group aims to transform the Teifi Valley, to the best of their ability, into a plastic free place to live.

The ‘Plastic-Free Cardigan Town’ community is actively looking for enthusiastic and environmentally loving people to join them to bring new ideas to the table, hold community activities to do with the problem or to just spread the word about this new, up and coming movement for the environment. If you or someone you know has an interest in joining the group or have any further queries, do not hesitate to join and message the ‘Plastic-Free Cardigan Town’ Facebook group.

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