Dawlish Against Plastic

About us

Dawlish Against Plastic was formed in March 2018. We cover the whole of Dawlish, which includes Dawlish Warren and parts of Holcombe and Cockwood. We have also worked with local schools in Exminster, Kenn and Kenford.

What we do

We organise regular beach and town cleans, take our information and sales stall to community events, organise environmentally themed competitions, and give presentations to local groups. During the year 2023-24 we recorded attendance at 70 events, either as volunteers or organisers, removed 558.18 Kgs of potentially hazardous rubbish from Dawlish town and beaches, and added new businesses to our community of Plastic Free Champions, recognised by Surfers Against Sewage.

Our beach cleans have included additional, ‘bespoke’ ones with businesses, schools, the Environment Agency and even a playgroup.

Our projects

In 2019, we achieved Surfers Against Sewage ‘Plastic Free Community’ status for Dawlish. As part of this we worked with schools, local businesses and voluntary organisations to help them reduce their plastics use. We continue these activities to maintain the Plastic Free Community status for Dawlish. SAS has developed a Town Twinning project, designed to support towns working towards Plastic Free Status. We were twinned with Axminster and Vanessa, our Chairperson, has supported them to achieve their PFC status which was awarded in April 2023.

The Turn the Tide festival, which we support, grew out of an idea for a ‘Green Fest’ we planned before Covid. The event has proved a huge success. Now in its third year, Turn the Tide 2024 ran from 7-9^th June. We have worked more closely with Turn the Tide Teignbridge CIC and our chairperson, Vanessa, has joined the board as a director.

Our current plans include working with local businesses and Dawlish Town Council to promote and incentivise the use of refill cups.

We were delighted to be awarded a community award by Dawlish Town Council on May 1^st 2024.

For updates, see our online platforms:

Website
Facbook group
Facebook page
Instagram