About

History

Plastic Free Swindon is a unregistered charity consisting entirely of volunteers. The campaign was launched for Plastic Free July 2018 as part of Swindon Climate Action Network. In 2020 we became a stand-alone organisation, part of Friends of the Earth and the global Break Free From Plastic movement. In July 2024 we moved away from Friends of the Earth and signed up as one of Surfers Against Sewage's Plastic Free Communities.

Aims

Our key aim is to reduce plastic pollution in Swindon. How do we get there?

• Education.

  • Engage with the public, schools and colleges, businesses, MPs / government, the borough and parish councils, and others.
  • Website resources, including an extensive library.
  • Social media (Plastic Free Swindon | Keep Swindon Tidy (Facebook | Instagram) | Refill Swindon).
  • Attend events.
  • Research.
  • Liasing with media.
  • Providing social media pages.

• Community organising.

  • Running campaigns.
    • Keep Swindon Tidy.
    • Refill Swindon.
  • Organise and host events.
  • Resolve issues.
  • Facilitation.
  • Support people / communities / organisations.
  • Co-operation / collaboration.
  • Working with local, national and international groups.

• Government.

  • Lobby local representatives (MPs and councillors) and national government.
  • Develop a zero waste system(s) where precious resources are preserved and reused, and toxic materials are phased out.
  • Implement effective legislation to eliminate plastic pollution such as The Plastic Pollution Bill.
  • Implement effective legislation on synthetic chemicals.
  • Economic equality: Economic inequality is core to social and enviromental crises, including plastic pollution.
  • Collaboration with local councils (borough and parishes).

Barriers to change to beware of:

• A system reliant on plastic 'recycling'. It doesn't work!
• "Chemical recycling". It is polluting, energy intensive, inefficient, a barrier to the development of zero waste systems, contains polluting contaminates, and makes a poor quality fuel.
• Waste incineration / waste-to-energy. It lowers recycling rates, pollutes the environment with noxious substances, contributes to climate change, is a barrier to the development of zero waste systems, and is unpleasant to live near.
• The Environment Act 2021. It doesn't provide effective legislation to reduce plastic pollution.
• The oppressive global food system. It contributes to many social and environmental ills, including plastic pollution.
• Corrupt government.
• Propaganda and greenwashing.

See the library for clarification of these points.

Website info

Privacy / GDPR

See our privacy notice.

Web hosting

This website was created from the ground up to be efficient, keeping file sizes and load low. It is hosted by a small, independent company called Faelix, who are environmentally and socially responsible. For example, they own UK-based servers powered by renewable energy and support free / libre software, hosting an instance of Jitsi and present on Mastodon.

Copyright © / copyleft ©

Credits

The images in the the links section are copyright of the respective organisations and used under Fair Usage terms.

The following are linked from media:

1. No license.
2. "Bottle tops" has a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication..
3. "Covid-19" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
4. "Handcuffed" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
5. "Swindon ward map" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
6. "TTIP banner" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
7. "Wikileaks logo" has a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
8. "EU / Brexit flag" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
9. "Coca Cola - Mexican death sentence" © Tomas Castelazo, www.tomascastelazo.com / Wikimedia Commons. It has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
10. "Plastic recycling symbol" has a Creative Commons Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
11. "Fediverse" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
12. "Feral pigeon entangled in a thread" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
13. "Lower ground floor, CEX, the Headrow, Leeds" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
14. "Buddhist dharma wheel" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
15. "Starfield simulation" has a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication..
16. "Monopoly game" has a Pixabay license.
17. "Irish famine" has a Pixabay license.
18. "Career ladder" has a Pixabay license.
19. "Hand holding Earth" has a Pixabay license.
20. Resin identification code 02 PE_HD has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
21. "FSC chain of custody" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
22. "Glass recycling logo" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license and has been altered to have white text instead of black.
23. "Plastic bottle mountain" copyright of Deutsche Welle TV. Used under fair usage terms.
24. © 2024 Oxfam. Used under fair usage terms.
25. "Westminster palace" has been remixed and has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
26. "You won't find us on Facebook" has been remixed and has a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license
27. "Plastic ban" has been remixed and has a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication.
28. "Earthbuilding2" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
29. © 2024 Peter Cowdy
30. © 2024 Martin Travers
31. © 2024 The Story of Plastic. Used under fair usage terms.
32. © 2024 Old Town Festival.
33. © 2024 Refill.
34. Image created by Swindon artist Willo the Wisp. It has no license.
35. © 2024 Swindon 105.5.
36. © 2021 Center for International Environmental Law. Used under fair usage terms.
37. Future Friendly logo has no license.
38. Acorn (community union) logo has no license.
39. Stop the Keypoint Incinerator Project (SKIP) logo has no license.
40. © 2018 Wiltshire Wildlife Trust. Used under fair usage terms.
41. Unknown license. Used under fair usage terms.
42. © 2024 Greenpeace. Used under fair usage terms.
43. Break Free From Plastic video used under Fair Usage terms.
44. © 2024 South Swindon Parish Council
45. © 2024 A Good Thing
46. Free resources courtesy of Adbusters.
47. © 2024 Swindon Pulse Wholefoods.
48. Resin identification code 01 PET has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
49. Image copyright of Greenpeace UK. Used under fair usage terms.
50. Image free for all types of use.
51. Resin identification code 01 PET has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
52. "Tractor spray fertilize field with insecticide herbicide chemicals in agriculture field and evening sunlight." has a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) license.
53. "Protesting against Monsanto and GMO" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
54. 'Syngenta kills Worldwide' template graffiti spotted in Basel, Switzerland has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
55. © 2024 UKWIN.
56. "TORTUGA CAREY CON CAPA PLÁSTICA 2.jpg" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
57. "Pollution on earth drawing.jpg" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
58. "Libri books2.jpg" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
59. "New College Swindon Logo Colour Version 2020.png" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
60. "Brunel Centre upper level, Swindon - geograph.org.uk - 616393.jpg" has a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.
61. © 2017-2024 Riverford Organics.
62. "GNU and Tux.svg" was produced by Larry Ewing, Simon Budig, and Anja Gerwinski. It has a Free Art License.
63. "Banksy: Very Little Helps" has a copyleft license from the Banksy Explained website.

Fonts

• The font used for navigation and on the timeline is called Pressuru, which has no license (1 | 2).
• The main headings font is called Grobold, which has no license.
• The font used for navigation and on the timeline is called Fredericka The Great, which has an SIL Open Font license.
• The font used for the Ghandi quote in the take action section is called Alex Brush, which has an SIL Open Font license.

© 2020 to 2024 Plastic Free Swindon ©
See the copyright / copyleft license section for full details.