Milton Keynes College Group has declared war on single-use plastic bottles, with a new scheme delivering 600 reusable ones to staff and students.
Waste management company, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK has donated the bottles in an attempt to cut waste.
“We’re calling it our Refill Campaign and we’re encouraging everyone across our campuses to use their refillable bottles, so we can dramatically cut the amount of plastic we’re throwing away,” said college group sustainability lead, Lauren Gallyot.
“Last year we sold 29,832 plastic water bottles at our campuses. If you laid them all end-to-end, they’d stretch from our Chaffron Way campus to the one at Bletchley and half-way back again. That has to stop.”
Karen Thompson from SUEZ spoke to students about the campaign and handed out water bottles alongside Lauren and students from the College’s sustainability action group.
Clive the hermit crab, an installation created in a collaboration between the College’s Art and Public Services learners, accompanied the team.
Clive was created out of used plastic bottles and other recyclable materials, to demonstrate the impact of single use plastics on the environment.
The Refill Campaign was inspired by the winning idea at the College Group’s Green Futures competition, where students Katherine Watkiss and Jonathan McTeer presented their proposals for a recycling scheme on campus.
“As a student climate action group, we were shocked by how much plastic waste we produced as a college,” Jonathan said, “Together, we discussed the different ways we could promote using refillable bottles. We're pleased this campaign is now being launched for new and returning students. It’s important that we use this opportunity as the inspiration for more changes to come."
