Plastic Free North Devon (PFND), is a grassroots community organisation that aims to inspire North Devon residents, tourists and businesses to drastically reduce their consumption of single-use plastic, remove it from the environment and dispose of it properly. We aim to connect people with their natural surroundings through conversations, education and events to ensure residents and visitors alike want to protect what our very existence depends on. We want to see radical transformation towards a healthier and more informed relationship with the environment.
Our ‘Protect our Playground’ initiative aims to reduce plastic pollution on our beaches by reducing demand for plastic beach toys and the initial stage is all about reducing the increasing amount of cheap polystyrene boards we find on our beaches during the height of summer.
Your average cheap polystyrene body-board is manufactured in China, shipped over 5000 miles, distributed to stores and surfed for 10 minutes before breaking and going to landfill. About 99% of all plastic comes from fossil fuels, these are then refined and manufactured into plastic, transported, used by consumers and disposed of into some form of waste management system or the natural environment.
