You may have noticed us posting about Everyday Plastic, a campaign to convince us and the supermarkets to reduce plastic use and pollution. It’s a cause I care about, but it was also setup by my friend, Dan. I invited him to tell his story here, because I think PMPers will like it too. It all started with a little experiment….

Back in 2016, I moved to the coastal town of Margate, Kent, and was appalled to discover that there were no recycling options offered in my new home. With seemingly no way to dispose of plastic responsibly, I decided to conduct a little experiment: I would collect every piece of my plastic waste for an entire year.

I wanted to understand how much I threw away and what would happen to it. With the help of a scientific researcher and loads of volunteers, we counted and categorised every single piece, developing a methodology to calculate my personal plastic footprint. Oh, and I also made a massive mural with a photographer friend.

By collecting almost four and a half thousand pieces of plastic in one year, I’m perhaps the only person to have ever confronted the stark reality of the global plastic problem through my own individual habits and behaviours.

So much so that it changed my life.

I thought “if this experiment can prompt those changes in me, just as one person… what could it do for other people?”

By offering the public the same experience I had, could we all find a personal connection to the plastic problem and discover our own plastic footprint?

So, we founded The Big Plastic Count, a joint project with Greenpeace UK, where participants count the single use plastic they use over a week so we can see and share how big the problem is.

Since 2022, nearly 500,000 people have taken part in the Big Plastic Count – we’ve come a long way since I made that curious decision to save all my plastic waste for a year.

Our work now is focused on helping everyday people to understand the plastics crisis and to empower everyone to believe that they can make a difference.

Help us continue what we do

Currently, our funding comes from a mixture of partnerships, corporate talks and workshops, and public funding. But none of these are guaranteed.

We want to continue to develop projects that connect with people of all ages and backgrounds to make a difference in society.

As a small community interest company, all the funds we raise are invested back into the organisation, and into the delivery of our learning projects and campaigns.

Please consider making a donation to Everyday Plastic if you want to:

• Take part in The Big Plastic Count
• Help us to develop our work with schools and communities
• Read our blogs
• See us launch new and impactful projects
• Put pressure on decision-makers in government and business