PLASTIC Free Leamington and Warwick has been hailed as an inspiring example of how local communities can tackle the climate crisis.
National climate body Carbon Copy praised the group as it hit out at governments for having inadequate policies to limit global warming following the meeting of COP27 last week.
Carbon Copy said it believed it was down to local communities to do their bit to tackle climate change – reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making lifestyles greener and protecting residents from the worst effects of climate change – without having to wait for governments to honour their promises.
They said Plastic Free Leamington and Warwick was a fantastic example of a group doing just that. It brings together individuals, schools and businesses to find ways to tackle avoidable, single-use plastic. The group helps everyone to find alternatives to single-use plastic and they campaign for policy changes. They’ve been awarded plastic-free champion status by Surfers Against Sewage and are an example of the 870+ communities in the UK that have also signed up to get rid of single-use plastic.
Members say it is not about removing all plastic from our lives but about kicking the addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it.
This project was one of just 27 outstanding community-led projects selected by Carbon Copy to form the backbone of the Running Out of Time climate relay route when it passed through the UK.
It was the world’s longest non-stop relay and thousands of people ran, cycled or sailed stretches of the total 7,767km route from Glasgow to Sharm El-Sheikh where COP27 is being held. The volunteers passed a baton from hand to hand containing a message – signed online by over 800,000 people – calling on governments to provide the resources, skills and quality education that communities need to tackle climate change in their locality.
Ric Casale, co-founder and trustee of Carbon Copy said: “Plastic Free Leamington and Warwick is an outstanding example of what communities, companies and partnerships at the local level can and are achieving right now. We want projects like these to inspire other communities and give them the confidence that they can do the same.
“Collective local action is too often overlooked in discussions and decision-making about how to address the climate crisis. National projects are too large-scale for the public to get involved and individual action alone is not enough. Community-level action is a vital middle ground where individuals can pool their efforts, knowledge and energy, and together take significant greener and fairer strides quickly.”
