Queen to ban plastic straws

The tide against single use plastic straws and plates is definitely gaining momentum and with some exceptionally well placed people leading the charge it will undoubtedly gain even more traction. The news this week that Queen Elizabeth II has ordered her staff to ditch plastic straws, eat from china plates and drink from glass bottles has given the campaign an amazing figurehead.

With Prince Charles an ardent campaigner for environmental controls it comes as no surprise his mother is also introducing more environmentally friendly strategies across her estates. At Buckingham Palace plastic bottles will no longer be seen in staff canteens or meeting rooms and the public cafes will see a gradual phasing out of plastic straws. The Palace will also introduce tough targets for packaging to be compostable or biodegradable.

The Queen is said to be interested in the environment spurred on some people say by a meeting last year between the monarch and TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough. The pair worked together on a documentary about the environment. The Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy project will see the creation of forested parks across all 52 countries of the Commonwealth.

The Prince of Wales spoke out in January about waste plastics, he said: “The nightmare result of eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year is set to get worse rather than better. We cannot, indeed must not, allow this situation to continue.”

The new measures introduced across Buckingham Palace and Clarence House were welcomed by the Marine Conservation Society. Spokesman Richard Harrington said, “This shows great leadership and sets a great example. It will also encourage business to reduce the amount of plastic they routinely use.”

Separately the BBC also announced a similar scheme to reduce the amount of waste plastic is produced across their sites in the UK and abroad.