Strode College in Street has joined a network of communities across the UK who are leading the way to tackle throw away plastic at source.

The college has been awarded Plastic Free Community status by marine conservation charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), in recognition of the work it has done to start reducing the impact of single-use plastic on the environment.

The local Strode college SAS community leader, Adrian Smith, started the campaign earlier this year after meeting with 'Plastic Free Wells', (who are frequent visitors to the college) when they returned to exhibit at our Fresher's Fair last year. It was them that told him about the 'Plastic Free Communities' scheme, to which then Adrian took the idea to meetings with the rest of the Strode Sustainability Group, which lead to Strode College directly applying to the scheme and our Principal Katy Quinn signing the commitment to be involved in this.

Strode College has very much been student-led in the commitment to looking after the environment. This first started in 2002 when a group of students set up a 'paper recycling system' initiative; which helped pave the way to creating a more eco-friendly, sustainable environment around the college. In 2013, Strode formed a Sustainability Group, which was founded by Art & Design Lecturer Duncan Cameron and included members of staff across different departments of the college and some students. In 2017, one of the BTEC Creative Media students; Max Doughty, who was President of the Student Association committee at the time, felt passionate about the issue regarding plastic waste. He advocated the shift away from single-use plastics and looking into using alternatives. The college feels that this strong partnership between the college staff and students has helped them pull together to build a more sustainable campus and stand up and take action in the local community.

Registering with the SAS Plastic Free Communities movement, Adrian Smith, a member of the Strode Sustainability Group, together with Duncan Cameron, pulled together college management, students and staff to put in place a five-point plan. The objectives include raising awareness and working to reduce SUPs on the college premises, setting up a steering group with management support and working with local businesses, organisations and community groups to spread the word.

Adrian Smith said: "We are delighted by the support we have received from both staff members and students in their commitment to work together in targeting the problem of single-use plastic.

"The support we have also received from Plastic Free Wells on steering us towards this campaign and how they have supported us on campus with promoting the issue out among students has also played a key role in kick-starting the action we have taken in reducing our reliance and consumption of throw-away plastic. It's also putting pressure on our suppliers now to become more eco-friendly in what materials they are providing us with, in order to be able to sustain our working relationship with them. We feel that this will also help spread the support, and allow us to be a leader in the switch to plastic-free alternatives, and hopefully encourage other local business and colleges to follow suit."

As one of the college's objectives of the 5 point plan, they were given the criteria to remove at least 3 single-use plastic items from college outlets on site. The on-site catering areas have now committed to using alternatives to single-use plastic in the following ways:

1. As of April this year, the college has now stopped serving takeaway food in polystyrene burger and chip boxes and have replaced these with 'Vegware' containers. This alternative is more expensive for the college to import in, but they then put this charge back onto our students, by making them pay a little extra (10p) to take away.

1. The college is no longer using plastic cutlery and stirrers, and instead have switched to using wooden stirrers and rice husk cutlery.

1. Instead of using polyethylene-lined disposable coffee cups, the college is now using compostable takeaway single-use coffee cups. They are now promoting the switching to using re-usable rice husk coffee cups whereby the college charges students and staff £4.50 for the cup, but they get their first hot drink free.

Other action the college has taken to reduce plastic waste across the campus includes:

1. The college has stopped supplying individual condiment sachets, and now supply large bottles of sauce and big salt and pepper shakers for students to come up to the counter and use. They also offer the option of buying recyclable and re-sealable metal cans of water ('CanOWater').

1. Staff are now bringing in their own cups/mugs to staff development day sessions and meetings, as well as Open Evenings.

1. Walker's Crisp packet recycling points have now been established across the college, which was another student-led initiative, when a student signed us up to be a dedicated collection point for the community.

1. The college has now introduced water re-fill stations in all college buildings, to encourage the re-use of water bottles and they have also established recycling bins in the refectory and rolling these out across the college.

Future Initiatives include plastic-free vending machines, (which dispense eco-friendly re-usable containers), and reducing use of poly-pockets and laminating.

The college is also partaking in ongoing discussions about possible on-site composting.

Strode College has organised, as well as been involved in, various events over the past couple of years that have highlighted the effects of plastic waste on marine life, both on-site the college and within the local community. 'One World Week' is a college event organised annually by student support and last year the theme was focused around reducing plastic pollution. The college is keeping up the momentum by making the focus this year on climate change once again, with the International theme being 'Climate changes everything- now is the time to act'. As part of this, the BTEC Media students have made radio shows specifically for One World Week, surrounding promoting the eco-friendly message, and throughout their course have worked on presentations and short films to promote the issues across the college too.

Events they have done outside the college include hosting regular litter picking events that have involved people from across the community, including local primary schools, adult learners, students, staff and Plastic Free Glastonbury - whereby for example, the college joined up with a local litter picking group and participated in litter picking within the local fields around Street and Glastonbury.

Next year the college intends to establish a larger number of litter picks; getting tutorial groups across the college and local schools to arrange their own litter picking sessions and a yearly, large scale litter pick that will link with other local groups.

Duncan Cameron, Chair of the Strode College Sustainability Group, said: "We are delighted to be awarded this SAS recognition, which is a very positive accreditation and it's terrific that the work of so many staff and students has had such a visible impact on the amount of plastic that we use on the Strode campus.

"This is, of course, only a step on a journey towards ridding our lives of single use plastics but it's welcome encouragement as we, alongside so many other institutions and individuals, try to turn the tide in recognition of the negative impact we are having on the planet."

The Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Community network aims to free the places where we live from single-use. Using the five point plan the aim is to empower communities to kick start local grassroots action, hich can then be built upon.

The marine conservation charity, based in St Agnes in Cornwall, says it wants to unite communities to tackle avoidable plastic from the beach all the way back to the brands and businesses who create it. It says it is not about removing all plastic from our lives, but kicking our addiction to throwaway plastic and changing the system that produces it.

Rachel Yates, SAS Plastic Free Communities Project Officer, said: "It's great to see the work that Strode College has done to reduce the availability of avoidable plastics, raise awareness and encourage people to refill and reuse.

"We have more than 600 communities across the UK working to reduce single use plastic and the impact it has on our environment. Every step those communities and the individuals in them take is a step towards tackling the problem at source, challenging our throwaway culture and encouraging the habit and system changes we need to see."