THE FARNHAM Sustainability Festival on Sunday provided an ideal opportunity for the Farnham Plastics Free Group and Farnham Rotary Club – with backing of Farnham Town Council, Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council – to launch its campaign to reduce the use of plastic and encourage all to replace it with more sustainable products.

Though the day was wet and windy, there was much interest from those who braved the weather to visit Gostrey Meadow.

They were able to discover what happens to their waste collected by Waverley Borough Council and the existence of toothpaste in other than the tubes on the supermarket shelves; of shampoo as soap bars; of compostable rubber gloves; of loufas as replacements for Scotch Brite – and much more besides.

“We want all to work together to achieve our ‘plastic free’ status,” said Norma Corkish of the Rotary Club of Farnham.

“People may ask why ‘surfers against sewage’. Well, waste plastic turns up everywhere and gets into the sea through our rivers, doing damage on its way and more when it gets there – contaminating our oceans, sea birds, fish and other sea creatures.

“Did you know that every day in the UK we buy 38.5 million plastic bottles; that we use seven million disposable coffee cups; that plastic bags can kill marine wildlife by unintentional digestion or inhalation and that one in three sea birds die with balloons in their stomachs and that 93 per cent of sewer blockages are made up of wipes.

“We can all help to change that – each one of us can play a part by turning our good intentions into good habits; by stepping out of the shop-spend-consume cycle; by saying ‘no’ to plastic bottles, coffee cups and lids, plastic drinking cups, plastic cutlery, balloons and more.

“Businesses can get a Plastic Free Champion Award by making three swaps away from plastic (no need to be completely plastic free!) and other organisations can sign up.

“Join our mailing list by emailing us at [email protected] and find out more about we were are doing and how you can help. If you want to know about Rotary, email [email protected]”