Chesterfield campaigners host film about plastic pollution

The Chesterfield-based single-use plastic campaign group, Plastic Free Chesterfield, has pledged to continue to raise awareness of plastic pollution, as it hosts an online film discussion as part of Earth Day 2020 on Wednesday April 22.

Earth Day is an international day of action on the topics of climate change and environmental issues.

The group is asking members of the public to join them in watching the UK film ‘A Plastic Wave’ at 7pm, then join a Zoom call online to discuss the film and the issues it raises.

The film’s description reads: "A surf photographer, business owner and father of two is seeing more and more plastic wash ashore his beloved home beach.

“In a bid to discover the route of this problem he embarks on a journey of discovery to educate himself and understand more about the problem. Along the way, he discovers some alarming issues."

The film is freely available to watch on YouTube along with the trailer.

The Zoom call starts at 7.30pm, with details on how to join available via the group’s Facebook page.

The online event is being organised as part of Plastic Free Chesterfield’s aim to get Chesterfield accredited as a Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Community.

Greg Hewitt, Community Lead for Plastic Free Chesterfield, explained: “We decided to continue the group’s monthly meetings, aiming to raise awareness about plastic pollution, because the issue of single-use plastics hasn’t gone away during the COVID-19 crisis and the more we learn now, the more we can implement into our own lives going forwards.”

He added, “We know many people, schools, businesses and community groups in Chesterfield are concerned about plastic pollution, and we hope that this film screening will add to people’s inspiration to either continue or start to pledge action against single-use plastics.

“We hope that people can use the lockdown period to reflect on their way of living and once it is lifted, join in a community effort to help reduce single-use plastic in Chesterfield.”