Dawlish Against Plastic

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.

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 2022-23 we recorded attendance at 70 events, either as volunteers or organisers. Our beach cleans have included additional, ‘bespoke’ ones with local businesses, schools and even a playgroup.

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 in order to maintain the Plastic Free Community status for Dawlish. S AS 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.

Our major project for 2020 was planning our first ‘Go-Green Fest’, a festival in Dawlish exploring all things sustainable, which we had to due to Covid19. In 2022, during the Jubilee weekend, our idea for a green fest was realised by the organisers of the Turn the Tide festival, which we supported. The event was a huge success and Turn the Tide ran again in 2023. We are already supporting next year’s event, planned for the weekend of June 8th-9th.

Our plans for 2023-24 include completing a project aimed at encouraging use of refill cups, work in schools and youth groups, establishing a beach toy box/library, highlighting the problems of the sea defences at Dawlish Warren and research into commercial waste.

We had two new members join our steering group in 2022.

For updates, see our online platforms:

Website
Facbook group
Facebook page
Instagram