We have been making steady progress with Leek achieving Plastic Free Community status. To do this we need to fulfil several requirements. The Town Council have given us their full support and, so far, several local businesses have become Plastic Free Business Champions, reducing their use of plastic. We also need allies. These are organisations, clubs, churches, schools, etc. who pledge to try to reduce their plastic use and encourage others to do so too.
One of our allies is Trinity Church, here in Leek.
They have been an amazing ally, going above and beyond what we asked of them. As well as looking at ways to reduce their plastic use on their premises, they have been actively encouraging their congregation and members of the public to do so as well.
Their Harvest Festival service this year was dedicated to the subject of humanity’s duty to care for the natural world. Richard Pope, minister of Trinity Church said, "As Christians, we are concerned about the impact of plastic and other man-made materials on God's beautiful creation. It's great to be working with Moorlands Climate Action to raise awareness of the damage we are doing to the world and highlighting some of the simple measures that we can all take to improve things for ourselves and future generations."
I have been working closely with them on this and was impressed to see their Harvest Festival being based on looking after the Earth, addressing Climate Change and pollution and especially the problems with plastic. It was a wonderful service, with lots of thought-provoking readings, prayers and hymns. I was asked to contribute with a short talk about why plastic is not good for our planet and what we can all do about it. During the week before the service the congregation was asked to collect plastic at home. They were amazed at how much they collected in just a few days. This was used partly to decorate the church for the service, and we also created a window display. The display showed some alternatives to plastic too, such as bars of soap, reusable nappies, etc. As well as all this, we produced a leaflet that was given out at the Harvest Festival, a coffee morning and outside the church during the Totally Locally market. This explained why people should try to use less plastic and gave information about local places where they could source plastic-free items. We are lucky in Leek to have so many places where we can shop plastic free.
To this end, I would like to extend my thanks yet again to the marvellous people of Leek; the Town Council, businesses, Scouts, churches, clubs, local media, etc. who are supporting the Plastic-Free Leek campaign. A huge thanks to Trinity Church too, who have been amazing.
We couldn’t do it without the support of the community.
If you are a local business (in ST13) and would like to become a champion, or are part of a club or organisation that could be one of our allies, please contact me on:
Sally Perry