High Peak residents urged to live life with less plastic

High Peak Borough Council has produced a new toolkit to encourage residents to change their daily habits and help to reduce the amount of plastic they use. 

The 'Life with Less Plastic' toolkit, produced with the council's waste partner AES, has ideas and suggestions to help people minimize their reliance on plastics - particularly single use plastics.

It comes as statistics show that 80 per cent of plastics in the world's oceans come from sources on the land. 

Even in places miles away from the sea, like High Peak, plastic which isn't recycled correctly can make its way to the seas.

But small measures, such as replacing single use plastics with more sustainable alternatives, can make a real difference.

Cllr Jean Todd, Executive Councillor for Climate Change and the Environment, said: “We shouldn’t fear plastics as they play an important role in our lives on a daily basis when used responsibly.

“However, there has been a big reliance on single use plastics which is now causing damage to our planet. Whilst they are often the convenient option they are rarely the best option – and there are plenty of simple things we can all do to help us reduce our reliance on this type of material in our day to day lives such as using re-usable cups, drinks bottles and shopping bags.

“Small changes like this can make a huge difference so we’ve put together some ideas and suggestions to help you get started and I’d encourage everyone to take a look at these handy hints and tips and to try some of them out.”

To find out more and download the ‘Life with Less Plastic’ toolkit, visit www.highpeak.gov.uk/brownbin.