A recent initiative by Long Beach Mall management to move its food outlets away from “single-use” plastics has started to bear fruit.
Ross Cameron, the Environmental Liaison Committee manager, said this initiative had been put in place by the committee, which met quarterly to oversee the environmental management of the mall.
The committee comprises municipal councillors and officials, civil society representatives, mall ownership representatives and independent environmental consultants.
Mr Cameron said the first two outlets to sign on to this initiative – Karma Cafe and King Pie – wasted little time in aligning themselves with good environmental practice by removing some single-use plastics from their establishments in phased approaches.
“Karma Cafe has shifted from plastic to biodegradable straws. They also do not provide plastic bags for takeaways, nor do they give away wrapped sweets. They are investigating options for biodegradable take-away containers and bags in order to further reduce plastic consumption, in their eventual aim of going plastic-free,” he said.
King Pie stopped giving away plastic straws at the beginning of May and Food Lovers Market Longbeach mall has stopped selling plastic bags as part of this initiative.
These efforts are all part of a shift that has been encouraged in the South Peninsula after a detailed survey was made of all food outlets in the area by the Far South Peninsula Civic Forum in 2018.
The survey found that locally-owned businesses were the most responsive and responsible, while national and
internally-owned food outlets were less likely to have taken action.
