Since the airing of Blue Planet II on BBC1 at the end of last year, single-use plastics and the devastating effect they have on our oceans is now on almost everyone’s radar.

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), based at Ross Park on the A40, has been instrumental at a national level at starting to stem the plastic tide.

Now MCS wants to address the issue of single use plastics right on its doorstep. The charity has joined forces with local councillor, Mrs Caroline Utting, and will be holding an inaugural meeting of ’Plastic Free Ross’ on Thursday, March 29th at 7pm at The Corn Exchange. The entrance is to the right of Rossiter Books in High Street.

Caroline said: “I was recently approached by several Ross residents and asked to help set-up a group here to tackle the problem of single use plastics.

“From one social media post I have had a lot of interest, which is really encouraging, and a meeting seemed the logical next step. I’m so pleased the Marine Conservation Society is on board with this in its home town. I’m sure we can make a real impact on this issue.

Emma Cunningham, Senior Pollution Campaigns Officer at MCS told the Ross Gazette: “There are so many things we can do as individual consumers and businesses.

“We’re all used to taking our own bags to the shops now, but we can refuse straws, only buy loose fruit and veg, not ones wrapped in plastic, and take re-usable water bottles when we are out and about. Businesses can carry out a simple waste audit to find out how much waste they are producing, look at some easy win solutions to start with and ensure employees understand the importance of the waste hierarchy of refuse/reduce/reuse/recycle.”

If you’d like to be in at the start of making Ross a plastic free town and join the first ever meeting on the journey then please email Emma Cunningham at MCS:

[email protected]See the full story in this week’s edition of the Ross Gazette, or subscribe to our online edition here