Protecting oceans is '˜very important' for city chippy

The Fisherman’s Kitchen in Clarendon Road, Southsea, has joined the fight against single-use plastics in the region.

It comes after The News launched The Last Straw campaign, which aims to get all bars and restaurants to get rid of plastic straws, and for coffee shops to offer discounts to everyone who brings in their own mugs.

The chippy has done a number of things to become an environmentally-friendly restaurant – from making improvements inside the shop to changing how their suppliers think about plastics.

Co-owner Gary Moreton-Jones said: ‘Ever since we opened six months ago, we have wanted to make this place as green as we could.

‘Most of our packaging has been biodegradable from the start, but the fish was being delivered in polystyrene boxes.

‘We’ve asked all of our suppliers to stop delivering in polystyrene and move to cardboard.

‘This seems to be having a knock-on effect on fish deliveries across the region, which we are really pleased about.

‘We are also now using cardboard cups and have a refill station for people who come in with plastic water bottles.

Gary says that chip shops should be feeling the pressure to ditch single-use plastics, because of the damage they are doing to their own industry.

He said: ‘I think it is very important for all chip shops to think about their plastic use.

‘We need to protect our oceans because that is where our produce comes from.

‘It is common sense – we as chip shops have a responsibility to protect the ocean, and that starts with doing things to fight against single-use plastics.

‘Everyone needs to do their bit to help.’