Last Tuesday, Cambridge City Council signed up to the Cambridge Plastic Pledge, which encourages every business and organisation in Cambridge to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use.

The pledge was created by Visit Cambridge and Great Days Out In & Around Cambridge to raise awareness around the amount of single-use plastic used and the dangerous impacts it can have on the environment. Approximately 12 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, harming marine life and food chains.

The pledge asks every business and organisation in Cambridge to make one small change this year. They are encouraged to reduce the amount of plastic they consume by either changing how they do something or using an alternative to plastic.

The Council has already taken action. These include supporting the national Refill campaign which aims to provide people with free drinking water on the move, ensuring that council buildings and sheltered housing schemes do not use plastic cutlery and replacing single-use cups with reusable cups or glasses in office buildings and community centres. They have also pledged to reduce plastic usage at major events, such as the Cambridge Folk Festival and made it a requirement for hot food and drink traders at the Cambridge Market not to use single use plastics for food and drink that they sell.

In the Council’s news release, Cllr Rosy Moore, Executive Councillor for Climate Change, Environmental Services and City Centre, said: “We are in a climate and biodiversity emergency, and it is important that we all look at what we can do to help ease the strain on our planet.”

“The greatest environmental benefit comes from reducing the consumption of our resources, however if this is not possible then seeking reusable options is the next best thing. It is important to ensure that as much as possible of the plastic you do use is recycled in your blue bins.”

Plastic reduction efforts have also been undertaken by the University. Through its Green Impact initiative, which was established in 2012-13, it “supports and encourages departments and colleges in reducing their environmental impacts.”

A University spokesperson said: “As part of the Green Impact initiative, the University Catering Service (UCS) is addressing plastic use in a number of ways, with the aim of going entirely single-use plastic-free in its 14 cafes.”

“Within the wider University, last year’s Green Impact initiative saw many departments committing to providing reusable cups and/or eliminating disposable drinking cups altogether, with many shifting to providing tap water rather than bottled water for meetings.”

The UCS measures include using compostable alternatives to plastic cutlery, crockery, plates, takeaway containers, cups and cellophane. Plastic bottles have been phased out, with drinks now sold in cans, glass, or compostable packaging. Customers are encouraged to use a KeepCup, with a 25p charge for those using disposables.

Last year, 13 colleges were awarded with Green Impact prizes for their efforts. In September, the University committed to a ‘science based target’ of zero carbon emissions from energy use by 2048, becoming the first University globally to do so.

The University also has an Environmental Sustainability Strategy Committee, which provides “strategic oversight of the University’s commitment to environmental sustainability.” In 2013, this body established an Environmental Policy Review Committee, which took the lead in developing the ‘Environmental Sustainability Vision, Policy and Strategy 2015-2020’.

Through the findings of this university-wide review, the committee proposed a roadmap to ensuring that Cambridge is “committed to making a positive impact through outstanding environmental sustainability performance” to match the institution’s “multi-century scale of vision” and ensure its progress is “benchmarked against peer institutions nationally and internationally.”