BACKS OUR EFFORTS TO HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
The Groove Cairngorm music festival in Aviemore last month, which featured Example and 2 Many DJs, banned plastic straws. And the Groove Loch Ness festival on August 18 will also follow suit. The Bel ladrum Tartan Heart Festival, held near Inverness from August 2 to 4, will ban plastic straws too. The event features Paloma Faith, Pr imal Scream and The Charlatans. Fiesta festival director Ricky Scoular said: “We are delighted Nile Rodgers has agreed that Fiesta x FOLD will be plastic straw free. “We are also delighted to support the Sunday Mail’s Last Straw campaign. We realise the excessive use of plastic straws is doing great damage to the environment and the oceans. Not enough is being done to cut down on single-use plastic or straws at major events.
“Therefore, at this year’s Fiesta X FOLD festival, we will have a 100 per cent ban on plastic straws and cutlery and are working with our partners and suppliers to look at alternatives to plastic glasses, bottles and packaging.”
Groove Festivals promoter Dougie Brown said: “The team at Groove are happy to support the Sunday Mail ’s campaign to ban plastic straws.
“It may only seem like a small step to some but it ’ s an important one. We made the decision to remove all plastic straws at Groove Cairngorm, which was overwhelmingly supported by festivalgoers. We will be doing the same at our summer outing Groove Loch Ness this August and will be looking at any other areas where we can reduce plastic waste.”
Meanwhile, more companies and bars in Scotland have joined those making the move on plastic straws.
Specialist drinks makers Beach Craft Spirits, a husband and wife team who make rums from scratch, are based in Hopeman, Moray.
Co-owner Lara Beach said: “Our whole business ethos is linked to the beach and the shore so the damage which plastic straws do to these areas and to marine life is something which horrifies us.
“We’re so pleased to see the Sunday Mail campaigning against plastic straws and bringing a wider level of awareness to the issue of plastic in our oceans.
“As a small business who care about the environment, we’re taking the decision not to use plastic straws. We’d like show our support to the campaign.”
Another business got in touch to say they were also ditching plastic straws. Fraser Gunn, boss of the Golden Pheasant , near Lenzie, Glasgow, said: “I’ve been following the Sunday Mail’s campaign on plastic straws and thought this should be our next step.”
Maurice Irvine, owner of Irvine’s coffee shop and bakers in Beith, Dalry and Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, said: “We saw the coverage in the Sunday Mail and realised we could do something to help. We use quite high numbers of plastic straws so we will be moving to alternatives.”
Margo Maxwell, of Butterburn Bar in Hamilton, added: “We have been following the campaign and have banned all plastic straws.”