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Resources for community venues

Plastic Free Allies who have responsibility for community venues can:

  • Ensure that the grounds are litter free and recycling is encouraged.

  • Raise awareness of the damage to the environment caused by plastics and provide ideas for reducing use of single use plastics to groups who frequent the venue.

  • Provide equipment which will assist people hiring the venue to have a plastic free event.

 

To assist project allies, we have come up with this self-audit tool, which will enable you to identify your existing good practice and provide ideas for actions that you can take to further reduce the use of single use plastic. Get in touch to find out more. 

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Litter picks and recycling

If there are outside areas where litter can build up you can borrow equipment from NHDC to do a litter pick (if you need a litter picking risk assessment, the TTL one may be a good starting point).

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Ensure you have recycling options on site with clear instructions displayed which make it easy for venue users to recycle. If you have growing space you might want to provide on-site compost bins.

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Raising awareness of how plastics damage the environment

Place posters in prominent places with plastic reduction tips in your venue and / or leave flyers (print as 2-sided on A5) for hall users to access.

These are a series of posters we have designed which you can print and use, if you need an adapted version do get in contact with the Plastic Free Letchworth Team.

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If your hall is used by groups who host talks then suggest they hold a meeting themed on plastic waste. Resources for children are located on our schools resource page. For adult audiences videos to consider are:

  • Solving Plastic Pollution (4 minutes long).

  • Plastic Oceans (10 minutes long).

  • A Ted Talk by the Capt. Charles Moore of the Algalita Marine Research Foundation which talks about plastic waste, its recyclability and how plastic moves at sea (7 minutes).

  • The trailer for the film Straws talks about the history of straws and then goes on to explain the problem with plastic straws and the alternatives to plastic straws (2 minutes).

  • World Ocean Day video showing how straws affect the food chain and litter our beaches (2 minutes)

  • The Story of Microfibres will raise awareness of plastics in our clothing (3 minutes)

  • The Story of Bottled Water will make people think about why we now buy so much bottled water (8 minutes)

  • A personal story about Living Plastic Free (12 minutes).

  • Australia’s Plastic Free July (2 minutes).

  • A film about Cotton buds which shows how raising awareness can lead to change (1 minute).

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If you have group members who are creative then consider making plastic free alternatives for everyday products, e.g. a soap bar, beeswax food wraps, reusable snack bag or dishcloth.

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Hold plastic free events

A Plastic Free Event is any gathering of people that makes an effort to eliminate plastic pollution and waste by using durable, reusable, non-plastic alternatives. Steps that groups can take to reduce waste at their events or events held at their venue are:

  • Resource the venue with a set of glasses, ceramic plates, and cutlery, which can be used for parties. Try asking hall users for donations as many people have a surplus of kitchenware they may be happy to donate.

  • For outdoor events, ask guests to bring their own bottles, cups, and cutlery.

  • In ladies toilets consider stocking plastic free sanitary products and let people know why you have chosen this option.

  • In baby changing areas spread the word on the plastic in wet wipes, suggest water and paper tissues / cotton wool as a better alternative.

  • Provide re-usable bunting that can be borrowed for parties as an alternative to balloons and plastic banners.

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This Festival Guide contains ideas and suppliers for hosting plastic free events.

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