As Falmouth achieved the coveted Plastic Free Coastline status in early March, local business, the Gylly Beach Café, has since revealed its plans to further their own eco-friendly status.

Gylly Beach Café on Gyllyngvase Beach in Falmouth

 

Mark Agnew, manager of Gylly Beach Café said: “We are currently on a big drive to rid our drinks range of any plastic where possible and we are also having a water tap fitted into the bar to make it easier for people coming in to use a ‘Re-fill’ station. We have also just launched our own KeepCups which are flying out!”

Gylly Beach Café’s KeepCups advertisement poster

 

The café, located on Falmouth’s Gyllyngvase Beach, allied with volunteer groups, Plastic Free Falmouth (PFF) and Falmouth Marine Conservation (FMC), to achieve the coveted accolade awarded by charity, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), making Falmouth the third Cornish town to gain the status, following Penzance and Perranporth.

Meg Hayward-Smith, chair and founder of FMC, stated: “FMC first started the Plastic Free Falmouth campaign when a member of SAS contacted us and asked if we would be a hub to help role the campaign out they were already impressed with what the marine group had done.”

Agnew said: “We had already been extremely green conscious before it became a national topic. We have been a part of GTBS (Green Tourism Business Scheme) since before 2006. So when we were approached to get involved in plastic free Falmouth we jumped at the opportunity.”

In line with one of the five goals set out by SAS, the café was one of 12 businesses to switch three single-use plastic items to sustainable alternatives. The café stopped using straws and napkins and switched to using bio-degradable bin bags.

According to Mark Agnew, the café now has multiple strategies in place to continue their plastic-free status: “The big plan for the future is to see what exciting new products come onto the market to help us rid our business of any item that is not fully compostable.”

He added: “It would be great to see the government give tax relief to companies promoting and producing greener products in order to make their goods more affordable as I believe the price issue is what stops a lot of smaller business from making that change.”

Hayward-Smith said: “It was a real community effort to achieve the status. We are all so proud of everyone who has got involved.”