‘The oceans, seemingly limitless, invoke in us a sense of awe and wonder…” says David Attenborough’s soothingly familiar voice over footage of icebergs and islands. “Plastic has become an integral part of our daily lives,” he continues, picking up rubbish from a beach, “but every year some 8 million tonnes of it ends up in the ocean.” Attenborough’s now-famous message has helped galvanise communities throughout the UK to cut down on single-use, avoidable plastics.
In July 2017 the environmental charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) launched a project called Plastic Free Communities. Co-ordinator Rachel Yates says: “It isn’t about removing all plastic from our lives, but kicking our addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it.”
SAS began as a grassroots campaign against polluted seas in 1990. It’s partly thanks to its work that the UK has some of Europe’s cleanest waters. With nearly 99% of bathing water now exceeding minimum standards (compared with 27% in 1990), the charity has turned its attention to the problem of disposable plastics.
In December 2017, just as Blue Planet II aired its game-changing episode, Penzance became Britain’s first “plastic-free” town. Since then, SAS has awarded plastic-free status to another 61 places, and more than 500 have signed up to work towards it. To get the award, communities need, among other things, to get council backing and work with local businesses to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics.
As well as helping the environment, these communities may be attracting more visitors too. Most residents (77%) responding to a poll in Pembrokeshire felt that local plastic-free initiatives had boosted tourism.
A growing number of tourists are looking for more sustainable options. Yates cites reports of overseas visitors seeing news coverage of Plastic Free Penzance and deciding to visit as a result. Penzance guesthouse owner Jon Matthews predicts: “Those businesses who fail to recognise the environmental concerns of a customer base … will lose more market share in the following years. It’s a chance to do the right thing and grow your business at the same time.”
Ahead of World Oceans Day, we profile 10 coastal communities that are making changes and often inspiring their visitors to do the same.
Whitstable, Kent
Do On a wall near Whitstable’s busy High Street, street artist Catman has painted a mural of the earth in a giant egg-timer, trickling through into a heap of discarded bottles. Kent’s first accredited plastic-free town has indie shops, art galleries and seafood stalls sardined along the cheerful lanes round a shingle beach and working harbour.
Visitors browse the shops, buy shellfish in the harbourside market, watch the fishing boats unload, and often pop in on Fishlab, a non-profit fishmonger-turned-gallery with weekly exhibitions. The town’s oyster festival, from 27-29 July, has a wide array of food traders, morris dancing, fireworks and little candlelit stacks of oyster shells called grotters.
Stay The West Beach caravan park uses plastic-free alternatives in its cafe. Static caravans, through Airbnb, start from about £65 a night. The town has a mind-boggling choice of cool places to eat, including two great community enterprises that have got rid of most single-use plastic: try mushrooms in creamy cider and sage (£4.50) at the not-for-profit Umbrella Café, or breakfast tortillas with coriander and lime at veggie Revival (£7.25).
Help clean up Both cafes are part of the new FetchhCup scheme for reuseable coffee cups with a £2 deposit, and 50 Whitstable businesses will now refill your water bottle for free. Lucy Boutwood of Plastic Free Whitstable says: “We’ve spoken to visitors who actively seek out businesses that are plastic-free. Our Facebook and Instagram pages are full of people learning from and praising Whitstable’s achievements.”
Lyme Regis, Dorset
Do The first plastic-free town in its county, Lyme Regis is on a dramatic fossil-strewn coastline and its old stone harbour wall, the Cobb, featured in books including Jane Austen’s Persuasion and The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The town hosts annual festivals celebrating everything from fossils (early May) to folk music (late August). The fundraising carnival, from 3-11 August, will see a procession, regatta, duck race and water polo tournament in the harbour.
The town’s old watermill, rescued by volunteers, now produces wholemeal flour and hydroelectricity. Its cobbled court is a creative hub, with silversmith, pottery, design agency, and the Courtyard Café, where flour from the mill is use for scones and pastries. The cafe recycles most of its waste and sends compostable matter to Trill Farm Organics (also a B&B), which grows herbs and veg for the cafe.
Help clean up Visitors can join in several plastic-free events, including beach cleans and film nights plasticfreelyme.uk. Look out for plaques to find pubs, cafes, chippies, coffee shops and ice-cream outlets that are working to reduce their plastic use.
Stay More than 20 businesses, from the library to the brewery, have signed up to the local refill scheme, and several hotels have achieved SAS plastic-free status. One of the latest places to gain the award is Greenhill House (doubles from £160 B&B), a 1930s mansion with sea views. As well as reducing plastics, it has switched to eco-friendly cleaning products and renewable electricity .
Penzance
Do With tropical gardens, trendy art galleries, pirate-themed pubs and the magnificent Jubilee Pool about to switch to geothermal heating, arty Penzance has always been a trailblazer. The UK’s first plastic-free town is continuing to lead the way, with almost 100 local businesses signed up to the scheme. This year the default traffic announcement sign reads “Welcome to Plastic Free PZ. Reduce, Refill. Rethink.”
Wave’s Café was one of the first plastic-free champions and only sells takeaway drinks in refill cups. Pop in for vegan nachos or roasted squash salad (each £10.95). Fraser’s, a fish and chip shop on the promenade, won 2019’s Good Catch award for sustainability and serves ice-cream in compostable pots.
Help clean up The midsummer Golowan Festival (21-30 June), which involves arts, crafts, comedy, a torch-lit procession, fireworks, folk music, a funfair and a lot of street food, is working with Plastic Free Penzance and has a green theme this year. Info for visitors asks them to bring a refillable water bottle and coffee cup, and to shop locally to help reduce their plastic bootprint. SAS coordinator Rachel Yates says one visiting German coach company heard about the scheme and “banned single-use plastic bottles on the coach so they didn’t bring them into the town”.
Stay Woodstock Guest House (doubles from £80 B&B), next to the subtropical Morrab Gardens, has got rid of single-use plastics at breakfast, and boutique B&B Venton Vean has managed to go almost completely plastic-free (doubles from £90 B&B).
Hornsea, East Yorkshire
Do An old-school resort 15 miles from Hull, Hornsea has a world-apart feel, with fresh doughnut stands and 2p slot machines on the promenades, and traditional wooden rowing boats for hire (£5 adult, £2.50 child) on Hornsea Mere, Yorkshire’s biggest freshwater lake. Refuel with a Greek salad or roast veg quiche (both £4.65) at the Number 10 coffee shop on Market Place. Owners Joanne and Tim Bunch have promoted eco-friendly ideas for years.
The town’s long-running free carnival is on 19-21 July and has a “back in time” theme for 2019, with the stated aim of avoiding single-use plastics. It also features a parade and community tug of war. Cyclists and walkers will also enjoy the Hornsea Rail Trail, which starts (or ends) in Hull, 15 miles away.
Stay None of the local hotels has gone plastic-free yet, but at the elegant Ellesmere B&B (doubles £95), on a quiet back road near the mere, you can breakfast in the walled garden.
Help clean up Keen paddleboarders in Hornsea’s plastic-free group organised a “rubbish paddle” in the nearby Driffield canal. They’ve also signed up 14 local businesses and work with the coastguard. A weekend base, in a beach hut on the north prom, welcomes visitors and has kit for litter-pickers with the local Tesco providing free hot drinks and biscuits afterwards. Coordinator Paul Parry says feedback from visitors has been “fantastic, with people saying it’s the cleanest beach they’ve been to”.
Hastings, East Sussex
Do This colourful old town, a Cinque Port in medieval times , has half-timbered inns and the ruins of one of William the Conqueror’s first English castles, and is working towards plastic-free status. Grab a proper Italian ice cream (in a cone not a tub) from Di Pola’s on Marine Parade. Stroll along the seafront to the free and fascinating Shipwreck Museum and explore under the promenade, where the 1930s Bottle Alley is decorated with glass from old bottles. The newly extended Hastings Contemporary (formerly the Jerwood Gallery) is set to be a major draw for visitors (adult £8, under-16 free, open from 6 July with exhibitions including work by renowned contemporary artist Tal R).
The venerable cliff funicular railways, which run to spectacular viewpoints west and east of the town, remain one of Hastings’ chief attractions (£3 return).
Hastings’ Pirate Day is promoting clean seas on 14 July and pirate-themed fun includes an attempt to break the world record for the largest number of people forming a human image of a boat. From 3-11 August, Hastings Old Town Carnival offers pram-racing, open gardens, street parties and a grand procession.
Stay Hotels in Hastings haven’t yet joined the plastic-free scheme, but visitors might try the Old Rectory, in a lovely part of town on East Hill, with locally sourced breakfasts, including smoked fish from down the road (doubles from £110 B&B, theoldrectoryhastings.co.uk).
Jersey
Do With 43 miles of coastline, Jersey (not part of the UK) has plenty of incentive to rid the waters of rubbish. The island’s government declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and has been “super supportive” of Plastic Free Jersey (PFJ), according to co-founder Linzi Hawkin. One of the first businesses to sign up to the scheme was wholefood cafe Moo. Hawkin says: “Not only is their food local and organic wherever possible and delicious (açai bowls, cold-pressed juices and epic salads), but they’ve worked really hard to remove all single-use plastic and help inspire their customers...”
Stay Local hotel group Seymours has led the way in terms of sustainability, removing or replacing most single-use plastics from its three hotels (including the Merton, doubles from £76 B&B) and post-surf watering hole of choice, the Watersplash.
Help clean up PFJ joined Surfers Against Sewage in January 2018 and has held regular beach cleans with charity Littlefeet Environmental. It has built recycling machines and run design competitions for students. With creative advocacy group Protect Blue, PFJ has produced free educational packs for the island’s activity providers – Jersey being ideal for surfing, paddleboarding, kayaking, sailing and coasteering. The annual, deckchair-lined Surf Film Festival (12-14 July) has an environmental focus celebrating all things ocean, and takes place on the sand in St Ouen’s Bay.
North Devon
Do Between the ocean and the heights of Exmoor, North Devon is full of wildlife. From mossy oak woods to salt-swept purple heath, grassy dunes to rocky shore, horseshoe bats, fritillary butterflies, hedgehogs and water voles thrive alongside seals, otters, red deer and a huge range of birds.
The On the Road music festival in Braunton (30 August-2 September) aims to be eco-friendly with water refills, reusable cups and recycling bins. Besides some great bands, it has circus skills and dance tents, a disco cabin and a cocktail bus.
Stay For a place to stay with on-site environment-focused family activities, head for the fringes of Exmoor and one of the converted barns around North Hayne Farm (from £269 for three nights in a four-person cottage) among organic fields and flowering hedgerows. Owners Cheryl and Roger Dixon have overhauled almost every aspect of farm life, from cleaning products to insulation, and offer bat walks, nature trails and a plastic-free competition for kids. They even provide guests with homemade beeswax wraps for their sandwiches. Cheryl says environment-conscious tourists have “told their friends about us, and they have then come to stay”.
A good alternative is to camp at Little Roadway Farm in Woolacombe (pitch for two from £18), where sustainable changes include compostable takeaway containers, and bamboo straws and toothbrushes. On the nearby beach, the Porthole is a new plastic-free wood cabin cafe, which avoids disposable cups and bottled water and encourages customers to bring their own containers for takeaway food.
Broad Haven and Little Haven, Pembrokeshire
Do The firm sandy beaches are perfect for building castles, while a stroll along the coast path leads past ancient standing stones. These two villages, framed by low green hills and wooded valleys, were Pembrokeshire’s first SAS-accredited communities. At this year’s Pembrokeshire triathlon on 8 June, sand artist Marc Treanor will create a 30-metre-wide artwork, incorporating logos for the local plastic free group and a new Eco Champion scheme. The Havens Carnival (3 August) will be, as far as possible, a plastic-free event.
Try asparagus and Welsh leek risotto (£10.95) or vegan caponata siciliana (£12.95) at the Sunshine Italian, where you can watch the sun set over the sea.
Little Haven, a characterful old fishing village, also has some eco-foodie gems. Visitors can take the Puffin Shuttle bus to St Brides Castle and walk the five miles back, past rocky caves and iron age forts, before enjoying a cafe and bar crawl: crab sarnies (£5.50) from Lobster and Môr, ice-creams from the Cornerhouse Cafe and a fireside pint or two in the Swan.
Stay To get closer to the ocean, hire body boards from Havens Sports and stay at YHA Broad Haven (dorm bed from £13, private room from £35), one of the area’s eight plastic-free champions, right next to the safe bathing beach and coast path. Sunshine Italian is just round the corner.
St Bees, Cumbria
Do Famous as one end of Alfred Wainwright’s challenging Coast to Coast Walk, which treks through three hilly national parks to Robin Hood’s Bay in North Yorkshire, St Bees in Cumbria is a magnet for hikers. There’s plenty here, too, for wildlife and history fans: the RSPB reserve on the cliffs is home to one of north-west England’s biggest colonies of nesting seabirds and the 12th-century priory has an extraordinary Norman doorway.
Hartley’s, an old-fashioned beach cafe. serves tea (£1.70) in china cups and metal teaspoons. Staff will refill water bottles and there’s a cracking view of St Bees Head from the window.
Help clean up There are frequent beach cleans in the area, organised by Colourful Coast and the National Trust. The next of these family-friendly events is on 25 July at 10.30am, starting near St Bees lifeboat station on the main beach; all kit provided.
Stay Accommodation options include The Station House (from £320 a week, sleeps four), a half-timbered railway waiting room that is part of a holiday cottage green scheme. Then there is eco-friendly YHA Eskdale (dorm bed from £10, private room £39 B&B), 18 miles to the south-east in the Lake District, with heating and power from a biomass boiler and solar panels; there’s a nature trail and bird hide on the grounds.
Anstruther, East Fife
Do Anstruther’s characterful seafront in coastal Fife features cobbled lanes and crow-step gables, a busy harbour and south-facing beaches. Regular clean-ups are helping keep them pristine and, since August 2018, local businesses have been reducing their plastic use. With a local community charity, Anstruther’s plastic-free group held a photo exhibition called It Ends Up on Our Beach, with pictures of rubbish collected from local beaches.
The town’s first plastic-free champion was Anstruther Fish Bar, which serves food in compostable cartons and refills walkers’ water bottles. Next door, the Fisheries Museum is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a lineup that includes beach cleans and eco-themed workshops. A superb side trip is to take an Anstruther Pleasure Cruiser to the Isle of May, five miles off the coast (adult £28, child £14 for a 4-5 hour trip). Its colonies of puffins, guillemots and grey seals featured recently in Radio 4’s Planet Puffin.
Stay Among eco-friendly options, the Spindrift Guesthouse (doubles from £110 B&B, thespindrift.co.uk), a Victorian sea captain’s house, stands out. It uses local produce and avoids single-use plastics (and has an honesty bar with a range of 25 whiskies, many local). Nearby, the trad but eco-friendly Dreel Tavern has a streamside garden for fine evenings and a log fire for chilly ones and the fabulous Fife coastal path goes right past the door.
