Canary Wharf Group is introducing an Estate-wide initiative at Canary Wharf to remove single-use plastic straws as part of its wider Breaking The Plastic Habit movement.
The campaign entitled ‘#3Weeks’ launches on World Environment Day (5 June) and will ask all restaurants, bars and coffee shops on the Estate to stop serving plastic straws for three weeks. #3Weeks represents the time it takes to change a habit according to behavioural research.
Canary Wharf Groups food and drink retailers will be encouraged to commit to the campaign, with existing ‘Ban the Straw’ initiatives from tenants such as All Bar One, Wagamama, and Pret A Manger highlighted as working examples to inspire other retailers to get on board.
“We are grateful to our tenants for joining us in our attempt to break consumer habits once and for all and look forward to working together to eliminate straws across the Estate as part of our battle against single-use plastic.”
Companies and offices with canteens on the Estate have also been asked to support the campaign, while members of the public are being encouraged to get involved through a social media competition. Visitors simply need to tag Canary Wharf in their ‘strawless selfies’ and include #3Weeks for a chance to win a £250 Canary Wharf Gift Card and a sustainable commuter gift set.
Canary Wharf Group recognises the fight against plastics is a global effort and its pledge follows the announcement from the EU that single-use plastics such as cotton buds, cutlery and straws could be banned across much of Europe.
After the three-week trial, Canary Wharf Group will:
- ADVISE retailers on alternative solutions to their current plastic straws, such as paper or biodegradable plastic
- ASK all retail tenants to join the commitment to banning the straw permanently
- USE the existing commitments of tenants such as All Bar One, Wagamama, Costa and Pret A Manger as working examples to bring bigger retailers on board
- WORK with retailers to discover the impact of the initiative alongside wider results from the Breaking The Plastic Habit programme
Steve Greig, Co-Managing Director, Canary Wharf Management says: “The impact of the #3Weeks campaign has the potential to be huge. We are grateful to our tenants for joining us in our attempt to break consumer habits once and for all and look forward to working together to eliminate straws across the Estate as part of our battle against single-use plastic.”
#3weeks is Canary Wharf Group’s first official public campaign launched as part of its wider plastic strategy, Breaking The Plastic Habit. Also launching on World Environment Day, the wider programme will run for 12 months and will pilot new technologies, innovations and behavioural change campaigns in an effort to remove the need for single-use plastics across the Estate.
Earlier this year Canary Wharf Group launched the UK’s first Deposit Return Machine allowing the thousands of visitors to recycle their single-use plastic bottles and cans in a simple, easy and efficient way. The automated machine uses innovative 360-degree scanning recognition system to identify, segregate, collect and process waste drink containers, creating a resource from recyclates that would otherwise likely be incinerated or sent to landfill.