Eco Friends West Berkshire is a local community group that is working to reduce single-use plastic and carbon emissions in West Berkshire. They have worked with Surfers Against Sewage to create the Plastic Free Newbury and Plastic Free Thatcham commitment to reducing plastic in our local towns, including schools and businesses. To find out more please join their facebook group and website eco-friends.org.uk.
January 2025
Party Box Hire
We have organised a party box of reusable cups, plates etc so you don’t have to buy single use plastic ones. See details here: eco-friends.org.uk/partyboxhire
AGM – Monday 20 January
If you would like to join our online AGM at 11am on Monday 20 January, here is the Teams link to join the call. For more details contact Chair Nikki Coome on contactus@eco-friends.org.uk
Sponsorship for Sarah
Sarah Hubbard, a new member of the EcoFriends team and owner of GoGreen Mortgages will be running the Reading half marathon in March and donating to Eco Friends. You can sponsor her here.
GreenFest 2025
We are excited to be part of GreenFest 2025 on Saturday 5 April at St Barts School. See details on West Berkshire Green Exchange’s website here wbge.org.uk/greenfest We look forward to seeing everyone there – in the meantime please share the Facebook event.
December 2024
As 2024 ends, Eco Friends are thrilled to announce that their collective efforts have removed an incredible 162,300 single-use plastic items per year from circulation in Newbury and Thatcham – a huge leap from 108,252 items in October 2023. This has been acheived by more local businesses and community groups finding alternatives to the single use plastics they had been using before. For instance one business has replaced gift chocolates in plastic with locally made paper wrapped chocolates. Others have stopped using plastic bottles, plastic cups for iced coffee, cloths that shed microplastics, sauce sachets etc As a result demand for single use plastics is going down.
This Eco Friends milestone shows the power of working together with our amazing community, local businesses, authorities, and our dedicated champions and allies. Every reusable swap, refill, and small change has contributed to this success.
Thank you to everyone involved! To keep the momentum going, Eco Friends are inviting more champions and allies to join them. If you’re ready to make a difference, contact plasticfree@eco-friends.org.uk and learn more about the network.
October 2024
On 29 October, the Mayor of Thatcham officially opened a new water fountain at the town center, marking a significant step towards sustainability. Collaborating with volunteers from Eco Friends and Thatcham Town Council, the event highlighted the importance of reducing single-use plastics. The fountain serves as a convenient refill station for locals and visitors, encouraging everyone to fill their water bottles instead of purchasing plastic ones. Nikki Coome, chair of Eco-Friends (West Berkshire) said she was thrilled to see the new installation and hopes it will be a valuable resource, foster environmentally friendly habits in Thatcham.
