14 March 2019
Woking Hosts Big Switch Day For Plastic Free Future
Surrey Straw Switch, a ground-breaking campaign that aims to see the county become the first in Great Britain to go completely plastic straw free is coming to Woking on Thursday 28th March. The Big Switch Day will be hosted at Café Rouge, Woking and local businesses will be invited to come and get a free starter packer, including 250 free straws.
This campaign is heavily supported by both Surrey County Council and Woking Borough Council.
It is estimated that we use 8.5billion plastic straws each year in Britain. While straws are used for an average of only 20 minutes, they can take over 500 years to decompose. Single use plastic straws are one of the most common causes of pollution in our oceans.
The Surrey Straw Switch was the brainchild of local family business, Paper Straw Group. Paper Straw Group are the only printers in the county to produce 100% plastic free straws which are recyclable, compostable and biodegradable.
The Surrey Straw Switch is hosting Big Switch Days in conjunction with each of the county’s eleven districts.
Woking town and local-based businesses are being invited to visit the Surrey Straw Switch Team between 11am and 3pm at Café Rouge to receive their free starter pack which includes:
- 250 eco paper straws
- Eco straw dispenser
- Window stickers to give customers confidence that straws being used in the premises are 100% plastic free
- Posters
- A Business Information pack
- Preferential business rates on all future orders
Further information about Big Switch Days can be found at paperstrawgroup.com/surreystrawswitch/
Paper Straw Group was set up by Natalie Stephens, Managing Director of Woking-based family printers, Optichrome who said, “Like so many people, I couldn’t believe the horrifying images from the Blue Planet 2 series and was shocked to see what plastic is doing to our local environment.
“I soon realised we could use our printing expertise to make paper straws. As I researched more into the problem I was surprised and disappointed to find out that the majority of paper straws in use in Surrey and the UK are imported from places like China and many have traces of micro plastics in their glue.
“We hope the Surrey Straw Switch will help the county become a leader in reducing plastic in the environment.”
To find out more out more information about the Surrey Straw Switch please contact Jemma Moreau on 01483 732610 or at [email protected].
