The Watch House Cafe in West Bay recently celebrated the benefits of going plastic free at a special event with local dignitaries.

The beachside restaurant hosted an evening with Notpla, a company that creates innovative, plastic-free packaging, which is used for takeaways at The Watch House and its sister restaurants across the Jurassic Coast, Hive Beach Cafe in Buton Bradstock and The Club House in West Bexington.

Notpla, founded in 2014, recently won the Build a Waste Free World category in Prince William's Earthshot Prize. The company is reducing society's reliance on unnecessary, single-use packaging by developing truly biodegradable solutions made from seaweed and plants that leave no trace at their end-of-life. 

The Hive Beach Co, including The Watch House Cafe, have been using Notpla packaging for the past year as part of its aim to cut down on plastic waste on the Jurassic Coast. Unlike most takeaway boxes, they do not contain any plastic or chemicals, but is instead coated with seaweed and degrades naturally, like a fruit peel. 

Their successful event included a presentation by Notpla and was attended by many local business people, local dignitaries including the Mayor of Bridport, Cllr Ian Bark, and the Mayor of Lyme Regis, Cllr Michaela Ellis, and local actor Martin Clunes.

Organisers also received a letter from Sir David Attenborough, wishing them luck with their environmental aims.

As well as replacing all its takeaway boxes with completely plastic free versions, West Dorset's Hive Beach Co takes the following actions to reduce its impact on the environment:

• Collects the oil and turned this into fuel, tarmac and soap
• Uses local suppliers wherever possible to reduce its carbon footprint
• Constantly monitors its products and processes to see what can be done to lessen the impact on the environment
• Recycles all cardboard
• Takes part in regular beach cleans
• No longer sells plastic beach inflatables 
• Reduced single use plastic by using paper straws, paper bags, canned water and plastid-free hand wipes 
• Vegetable supplies deliver produce in re-usable crates
• Uses vegetables grown in The Club House garden across all sites

For more details on this and the three restaurants' locally-sourced, sustainable menus, visit www.hivebeachcafe.co.uk, www.theclubhousewestbexington.co.uk and www.watchhousecafe.co.uk

For more details on Notpla's products, visit www.notpla.com