Skye Gyngell, of critically acclaimed restaurant Spring, located in the new wing of Somerset House, has announced plans to reduce plastic in 2018 with the aim to be completely plastic free by the end of the year.
Following on from the success of the sustainable Scratch Menu, which was launched in November 2016 to raise awareness on food waste, Skye was inspired to take the initiative further and create a new challenge for the restaurant in 2018. After attending a talk by founder of grassroots organisations A Plastic Planet, Sian Sutherland, and watching Netflix documentary ‘Plastic Ocean’, Skye decided to target the overwhelming use of plastic in the restaurant industry.
Working closely with Sian Sutherland, who is advising the team at Spring, Skye eliminated plastic straws in November of last year and will look this month into bio-degradable clingfilm alternatives. Next steps will be eradicating the use of plastic containers in the restaurant, and other single use plastics, with the aim to be one of London’s first plastic free restaurants by 2019.
Skye Gyngell is often seen as a pioneer for environmental issues, focusing on responsible consumerism in the restaurant industry, and with the backing of the team at Spring, and her newly appointed ‘Plastic Ambassadors’, she hopes to make a small impact on an increasingly topical and pressing global problem.
Gyngell commented, ‘After speaking to Sian I gained such an insight on the effect that plastic has on our planet, that it got me thinking about how we could try and do something as a restaurant to reduce this footprint for future generations. I looked at Spring and was simply overwhelmed by the amount of plastic we use – it’s everywhere, from something so simple as a recipe file to clingfilm. I wanted the elimination of plastic at Spring to be our new goal for 2018.’