A plastic free coffee store in East Sheen is leading the charge against plastic in the borough.

Coffee & Cake Co called for support in their plastic-free community earlier this month. As a result of this call to action, there has been a growing cross-party consensus to eliminate plastic from shops in Richmond Borough.

Owner Stana Basic hosted a meeting discussing the initiative. East Sheen councillor Mona Adams,  Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Richmond Park and North Kingston Sarah Olney and Liberal Democrat leader of the council Gareth Roberts all attended and it was agreed that urgent action was needed to address this issue. Mr Roberts said: "It is incredibly important that we, as a council, can support businesses like Stana’s to make sure that we, as a borough, can become as plastic free possible by the end of the 2020.”

The support for this initiative reached new heights on Friday, October 19 with a visit from Zac Goldsmith MP who commented: “It was great to see the efforts Stana has put into making Coffee & Cake Co plastic free. It is an example to the whole community and I very much encourage other local businesses to do the same.”

With this level of cross-party support, Stana is winning hearts and minds by encouraging her suppliers alongside several other local shop owners to go plastic-free. She admits that this isn’t easy, and initially, can be expensive, but that ultimately, it is driven by a consumer demand to be more environmentally friendly.

Stana said: “The plan to implement this plastic-free initiative is very much in the hands of Richmond Council, and we are very heartened by their enthusiasm. However, we do now need to see words turn into action.”