A Moray eatery has set the ambitious target of being entirely plastic free by the end of year.
Chimes Cafe in Forres wants to eliminate all disposable cutlery and crockery from service on the premises.
The team’s mission also extends to other aspects of the business – including food packaging for ingredients and everything else under the firm’s roof.
Changes already made in the High Street cafe include using a beeswax wrap to keep produce fresh instead of common cling film.
Meanwhile, traditional plastic straws have been replaced with implements made from bamboo, metal and other compostable or reusable materials.
However, staff at the restaurant are not finding every challenge easy to solve.
Rachel Hannaford, a member of the management team, said: “We live in such a beautiful part of the world that we wanted to do everything we could to protect it, not make it any worse.
“We want to be entirely plastic-free by the end of the year. It’s quite an ambitious thing to go for because we are including everything we use day-to-day.”
She added: “Cleaning materials has been tough. There isn’t the option anywhere to use refillable bottles, which is something we try to do with everything else.
“Some fresh produce comes wrapped in film too, so we try to use local suppliers as much as possible to avoid that.”
The cafe’s environmental mission was sparked by hearing news of mountains of plastic being found floating in the world’s oceans.
This year, staff embarked on the drive by eliminating takeaway boxes from the store and encouraging customers to bring their own bottles or cups to fill for drinks.
Employees have also committed to use either electric or hybrid vehicles when collecting supplies for the menu.
Yesterday, Zero Waste Scotland explained initiatives were currently underway in the Central Belt to cut down on plastic waste in cleaning products.
Western Isles Council becomes first local authority in Scotland to pledge to ditch plastic straws
A spokeswoman said: “We welcome any initiative that tackles items symbolic of our throwaway culture.
“We recently invested £100,000 in a packaging free supermarket in Glasgow, which stocks refillable cleaning products, and we’re currently seeking ideas from businesses to reduce single-use packaging.”
