Councillor Gabriella Giles writes about the need for sustainable changes

Councillor Gabriella Giles writes about single-use plastic and changes we must make for a better future.  
 
Can you believe the end of January is already upon us? The realisation that 2020 marks the end of the previous decade, not the start of the next, has left me with a lot of optimism about what we can do this year to ensure that, as we enter the new decade in 11 months’ time, we will already have made the changes we need for a better future.
 
It was with this in mind that I tabled a motion that we, as a council, should stop using single-use plastics (of whatever form) at all council events and in all council premises and that, if their use is absolutely necessary, ensure that they are recyclable and recycled within the borough. After all, we have a state-of-the-art recycling facility on our doorstep, why shouldn't we use it? The motion also stated that, for us, it is important to increase our rates of recycling. However, we should also focus on minimising the amount of single-use plastics in the first place.
 
Completely coincidentally, Coca-Cola announced last week that it will not stop selling their products in plastic bottles due to its research on consumer behaviour. According to Dougie Poynter (of McFly fame) in his book Plastic Sucks, one million plastic bottles are bought every minute. Coca-Cola makes 200,000 plastic bottles in that same time. It doesn't take a genius to do the maths. We, as consumers, have the power to change that behaviour. If we buy fewer plastic bottles, manufacturers will have to change their working models. So, perhaps remember that next time you reach for a bottle of pop in the shop … is there an aluminium can you could have instead?
 
Like a lot of us, I have long been aware of the impact of plastic in our everyday lives but needed some facts to support my proposal. I devoured Plastic Sucks, quoting stats to my colleagues. Did you know that a carrier bag is used for an average of 12 minutes but takes 20 years to decompose? My colleagues didn't know either – but they do now! Albeit directed at children, the book is a fantastic reference point for any age, providing context, supporting information, and top tips (far more than any council report).
 
I attended a talk on the future of transport given by George Freeman MP, Minister for Transport Decarbonisation, who stated that he is extremely excited about electric airplanes and how he would like to support sustainable travel outside London. Living in connected Chiswick, we take it for granted, taking advantage of the trains, tubes, and buses readily available to us, even if the E3 is not always as regular as we would like. I, on the other hand, have become so reliant on my bicycle, that I find great pleasure in those rare times I do venture out on the tube.
 
I also delved into the council’s greener borough strategy and the climate emergency action plan that were approved by Hounslow’s cabinet last week. The climate emergency action plan, praised as ambitious and aspirational by the people behind it, leaves a lot to be desired when you look into the detail. According to the report, compiled by a consultancy called Eunomia, the council generates over 48,000 tonnes of CO2 in direct emissions per year, based on figures from 2017. Where these figures come from, I could not say – and neither does the report.

Channelling my inner Cllr John Todd, I went into detective mode. In one of the appendices there are references to government documents but nothing that really concerns our local consumption. For that you have to dig deeper and it's still hard to ascertain exactly how these figures are estimated. For that's all they are: estimates. So we have a plan which details how we are going to reduce carbon emissions using estimated data that is now three years out of date. I suppose it's better than nothing.
 
The content of the report is shockingly thin on innovation, makes very little reference to Heathrow which, although it’s not in the borough, has a huge impact on our environment. There are suggestions for switching all council-owned and council-run assets to green energy. However, one of the reports that was due to go to the cabinet last week, regarding a switch of energy provider, contained not one green energy provider. Thankfully this was removed due to the hard work of the aforementioned John Todd. A large amount of the document focuses on the 1% of emissions generated by council employees getting to and from work.
 
Why do I mention all this? After almost two years as a councillor, I have learned that this behaviour is indicative of a council that is supposed to serve us. Lovely suggestions of what we could do, but no real costed plan of how we are to achieve it. A siloed approach to implementing policy, and no responsibility or accountability for the decisions it makes on behalf of our residents.
 
With that in mind, I am still very optimistic about what we can do in the next 11 months to make sure we enter the next decade having already made some vital, if small, sustainable changes in our lives.