Plastic Free July - colleague pledges

Around 30 of the 300+ colleagues who have completed Carbon Literacy Training have made pledges around plastic waste, including plastic waste, plastic packaging (e.g. on-the-go food and drink containers), recycling plastic and buying plastic-free or lower-content plastic products.

To celebrate Plastic Free July, we hear from two of our colleagues about why they have pledged to reduce their plastic waste, and how they have been finding the challenge so far.

Finlay Callender-Wood, Business Development Executive, Centre for Assessment

After attending the Carbon literacy training in December last year, I was shocked to learn about the environmental impact we have individually and globally on the planet. Like most people, I understand the importance of renewable energy and the climate change impacts such as global warming, fossil fuel emissions from cars/planes/trains/boats but I was surprised to learn that even sending an email has an impact.

I am lucky enough to walk to the office and thought my daily habits had little to no impact, and it was the ‘big corporations’ that were the ones that needed to change. Although this is partly true that big corporations have the most to answer for, I also realised that I could do better. Honestly, I’ve not been as strict with my pledge as I would’ve liked, but being conscious of not sending as many unnecessary emails and reducing my reliance on meal deals, has shifted my view on my daily habits and how these can build up over the year.

Plastic Free July is a timely reminder for me to focus on moving away from single use plastic (meal deals sometimes still catch me out on busy weeks when I’m in the office). This all comes down to preparation and convenience. Meal plan and there’s no need for convenience food, wrapped in single use plastic! I’m still getting the balance right but I’m more aware that if we all did our bit, then it can add up to some much bigger and much more positive statistics.

Clare Davis, Workforce Development Specialist - Tameside

I used to drink soda/sparkling water which meant I was buying easily six litres a week in my weekly shop and I wasn’t really thinking about the effect of the planet, although I should have been.

Following Carbon Literacy Training I made a pledge to reduce the number of plastic bottles I purchase and since making this pledge, I have stopped purchasing bottles of water and started to use a reuseable bottle of still water with lemon in it instead.

My plastic bin is evidence of how much plastic I have reduced using . I still prefer sparkling water so I’m considering investing in a soda steam with all the money I have saved! As a side note, I also cancelled my NEXT account as during my Carbon Literacy Training, I got a delivery of 8 dresses from Next for a wedding I was going to be attending and I have every intention of returning the 7 I didn’t like. I felt quite ashamed!