With pubs serving pints in reusable cups to slash plastic wastage on Boat Race Day

Putney’s pubs will be serving up pints on Boat Race day in reusable cups, slashing plastic waste at the Capital’s biggest river sporting event.

Organised and ordered by Positively Putney Business Improvement District (BID), 14,000 reusable cups will be used by eight pubs along the river and on the high street.

People will be able to reuse their cups or return them to the pubs, which can then be washed and re-used up to 50 times, potentially saving tens of thousands of single use plastics ending up in the river or landfill in one day.

According to figures from Thames21, up to 300 tonnes of rubbish is recovered from the Thames every year. Single use plastics account for nearly 80 per cent of the litter, harming wildlife and eventually ending up in the ocean. Of this, disposable plastic cups are one of the most found litter items. On a low tide in July 2018, 1,000 disposable cups were found in one small area of foreshore along the Boat Race course.**

Nicola Grant, Executive Director of Positively Putney Business Improvement District (BID), says:“The annual Boat Race, starting at Putney Bridge, is one of London’s biggest sporting events, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors to our riverbanks every year.

“I’m proud that this year we’re teaming up with Putney’s pubs to drastically cut the use of plastics by serving pints in reusable cups. We’ve ordered 14,000 of them, if they are each used just a few times, we could easily prevent 50,000 single use plastics ending up in the river or landfill, in just one day. Putney is a great example of the community coming together to clean up the environment.”

Youngs, which own a series of pubs in Putney have ordered 8,500 cups. Director of Marketing, Gillian McLaren commented: “The annual Boat Race is a very busy day for our pubs in Putney, and we’re very pleased to partner with Positively Putney BID and help keep the river clean by serving our customers in environmentally-friendly reusable cups.”

In The Drink, a not-for-profit scheme working to cut single-use plastic on the riverside, is working with Positively Putney BID. Co-founder Alison Baker says: “We’re on a mission to phase out the use of disposable cups by the riverside , and we’re really pleased Positively Putney BID is helping to make this happen for Boat Race 2019 with the help of its iconic pubs. Investing in reusable cups for the Boat Race and beyond, while still keeping the drinks flowing, sets a great example for other riverside organisations to follow this summer.”


image: DailyMailOnLine - Chris Gorman

Co-founders of local litter collection group of volunteers Putney Tidy Towpath Paul Benton and Sandi Bloomfield responded: "That is great news, we will be busy clearing litter after the races before the high tide due that evening and this initiative should reduce the number of glasses carelessly tossed on the towpath and Embankment by spectators which if left will find their way in to the River Thames and out to the oceans. Well done Positively Putney!"

The Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race will be held on Sunday 7 April 2019. More than 250,000 people line the banks for the annual event.

**Figures provided to Positively Putney BID by In The Drink.

March 21, 2019