6 March 2019
West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has repeated her pledge to stand up for the environment by support a series of green activities taking place this Lent. The MP has agreed to join Malvern Hills District Council on a litter pick over the next six weeks to help to reduce the amount of waste – including plastics – in our towns and countryside. The MP has joined more than 40 Westminster colleagues taking on a series of environmental challenges for Lent across the country, including taking part in litter picking activities, buying fruit and vegetables without plastic wrapping and shopping locally to reduce food miles. Harriett was inspired to take on the Lent challenge last year after talking to local school children about their fears of the damage to the environment from plastic bags and bottles. And in her travels as Minister for Africa, Harriett has seen some of the serious problems single use plastics have caused in the developing world. In the UK, the Government has just launched an update of the Resources and Waste Strategy to cut our reliance on plastics, cut confusion over household recycling and reduce food waste. Harriett commented: “I’ve agreed to join a number of MPs taking on ambitious measures to try and help raise awareness of this important issue which I know from first hand, is one of the top priorities for our children and has become an increasingly important part of the Government’s agenda. “Although banishing single use plastics including bottles is very difficult, I will do my bit and I’ve already encouraged a water bottle refill scheme in Malvern which will hopefully help. “Simple things, like demanding paper bags rather than plastic bags, are easy for us all to do and I’m lucky that as Spring approaches, doing more produce shopping locally will reduce my personal carbon footprint. “I’m aiming to go out and join a litter pick to help clean up our local environment and I will be encouraging people to come out and do their bit too. “These are all small, but important, steps and as a nation we must do more to act to protect our environment for us, our children and grandchildren.”