Tweedbank Brownie Lily’s letter convinces supermarket to ditch single-use plastic straws

Lily Webster wrote to the manager of Asda in Galashiels after learning about the damage unrecyclable plastics do to the environment, as part of a project at 1st Tweedbank Brownies.

She was so concerned about Asda’s single-use plastic straws in the customer cafe in Currie Road that she pulled the chain up on it in.

She shared her disappointment and frustration that not only did the cafe only offer plastic straws, but those straws were also wrapped in more plastic.

Asking Asda to address her concerns she suggested it make a change to a more environmentally friendly option.

“I wrote to Asda because I was disappointed they were using plastic straws that were also wrapped in more plastic,” Lily said. “I felt it was important to write to them because I want to save the future generation.

“When I got the letter back from ASDA I was happy. I thought it was a good response and I’m glad they did something about it.”

The cafe made the switch to paper straws almost immediately.

The store’s general manager Ewan Carrigan said that was due to Lily’s “hard work and well written letter”.

He told her: “It was a great suggestion and was such a simple thing to do we decided to do it straight away.

“I hope this makes you feel better about coming to visit us in Asda Galashiels, and if you have any more great suggestions please let me know and I will see if it can be done.”

As a thank you to Lily for her suggestions she was gifted a re-usable water bottle, the same ones Asda has provided its employees to avoid the use of single use cups in its canteens, a £10 gift card and a congratulatory badge.

Lily’s actions follow Girlguiding’s recent plastic awareness campaign called PlasticPromise, the biggest ever girl-led campaign to tackle plastic pollution.

Young women and girls, like Lily, across the country have been committing to a simple but meaningful lifestyle change, be it using a reusable water bottle or coffee cup, swapping cling film for reusable alternatives, or avoiding disposable cutlery, all in a bid to help reduce single-use plastic.

Earlier this year the Tweedbank Brownies also started an initiative to recycle plastic bottles to be used as dog’s dirt bag holders for use in the community.