Pupils’ fight sees village become first to ban straws
A CAMPAIGN by primary school pupils has made a Highland village the first in the UK to be free of plastic straws.
Residents in Ullapool said they ‘constantly’ saw the impact of a throwaway attitude to plastic on the beach and in the sea.
Fourteen bars, restaurants and cafes in the Ross-shire beauty spot decided to help the children do something about the problem, and the businesses are now using non-plastic alternatives – or have stopped offering drinking straws altogether.
The local supermarket, which is the last remaining outlet to sell the plastic straws, has agreed to stop stocking them early next year.
Pupils at Ullapool Primary School joined forces with Glasgow’s Sunnyside Primary School to lobby businesses as part of the #NaeStrawAtAw campaign.
The project was supported by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and its Living Seas Communities Officer Noel Hawkins said the achievement was ‘wholly down to pupil-power’.
Mr Hawkins said: ‘The children from Sunnyside Primary School have done a great deal to raise awareness within Glasgow, and their enthusiasm rubbed off on the local kids when they came to Ullapool in September.
‘The pupils went door to door to speak directly to businesses, and this has clearly had an impact.
‘Finding plastic drinking straws during beach cleans is particularly frustrating because alternative products are available.’
Mr Hawkins said that the pupils’ project may be ‘a small step towards reducing the amount of plastic in our seas’, but ‘if the #NaeStrawAtAw campaign can be successful in Ullapool, it can work anywhere’.
He added: ‘All it takes is for people to be aware that there are alternatives to plastic straws, and say no if they are offered one in a pub or a restaurant.’
An average of 138 pieces of food and drink-related waste, including plastic straws, were found per 100 yards of UK beaches during this year’s Great British Clean.
Caillín Erin Patterson, 11, a pupil
‘Say no if offered one in a pub’
at Ullapool Primary School, said: ‘There’s no need for plastic straws.
‘If you do use a straw it shouldn’t be a throwaway one.
‘We’re killing our seas with single-use plastic and it’s just not necessary.’
Last night, a spokesman for the Seaforth Hotel in Ullapool said: ‘The Seaforth is proud to be a part of the #NaeStrawAtAw campaign.
‘We’re thrilled that the children from Ullapool Primary School and Sunnyside Primary School are making such a huge difference.’
Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, said: ‘Congratulations to the Ullapool community for recognising the problem of plastic straws and taking action.
‘This is an example to communities across the country of the bold steps they can take to protect our marine environment.’
She said that the Scottish Government was ‘committed to tackling the issue of ocean plastics.’