WEAct on Plastic is back to tackle plastic head-on. Plastic pollution is one of the most urgent environmental challenges of our time-both locally and globally.
Our Goals
Inform and educate the local community on the issues of plastic pollution and how we can take action.
Inspire and support the local community to take steps to reduce their use of single-use plastic.
Work with individuals, schools, local businesses, community groups, and Local Councils.
Achieve Plastic Free Community Status for Woking (see Surfers Against Sewage).
The Plastic Crisis: A Growing Environmental Threat
Plastic is one of the biggest environmental challenges we face today. It persists in the environment for centuries and breaks down into microplastics that contaminates land, rivers and the ocean, where the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic is dumped every minute. The harm this has to wildlife is profound; animals mistake plastic for food or become entangled in it. If the plastic does eventually break down, these microplastic particles can end up in our food, our water and our bodies. The impact this has on our health is currently unclear of growing concern among scientists.
Although recycling does help, only 9% of the world’s plastic is recycled, with most being burnt or sent to landfill, contributing significantly to pollution and global warming, therefore it is of utmost importance to reduce plastic at source. By cutting unnecessary and single-use plastic, and moving towards reuse and refill systems, we can prevent waste before it is created, protect nature, reduce carbon emissions, and create a healthier future for our communities.
WEAct on Plastic is about taking practical, positive action together, to reduce plastic use in Woking and beyond.
Take part in the Big Plastic Count 9th-15th March!
One great way to get involved and help reveal the true extent of plastic usage is The Big Plastic Count.
This national survey is a powerful way for people to contribute data that drives change by raising awareness and shows the government the scale of the problem.
Encourage family, friends, colleagues and schools to sign up now and share your results on social media to help amplify the message.
UN Plastic Pollution Treaty
A global solution is within reach. Governments around the world are negotiating a legally binding UN Global Plastics Treaty to tackle plastic pollution across its full life cycle from production to disposal. This is an invaluable opportunity to go beyond voluntary action and recycling to make a tangible goal and legal document for governments worldwide to adhere to. Watch this short film for more information.
The last Intergovernmental Negotiation Committee session (INC5.3) was in Geneva on 7th February 2026. These talks were mainly for administrative purposes after the INC5.2 in August 2025 failed to make any major breakthroughs or decisions. At INC5.3 a new chair was elected, Ambassador Julio Cordano of Chile, with hopes this may reinvigorate the stalled negotiations, which are expected to restart with dates yet to be announced.
In light of this, you still need to make your voice heard for future talks. Send a message to our government to let them know we want a strong, fair and ambitious treaty by signing this petition.
Community Action
There are already some great initiatives happening locally such as:
– Woking Litter Warriors organising regular litter picks in the local area.
– And there is a local Nappy Library for support if you want to try reuseable nappies for your little one.
But there is still so much more that can be done and so it is of utmost importance that we all Use Our Voices to inspire change. So, if you see something that could be changed for the better, please do take a couple of minutes to say something to the person that might be able to change it. Have a friendly conversation or simply send a quick email to provide some information on your ideas for a greener alternative.
For example:
– Ask your local infant school to swap single-use individual tetra paks (used for the morning milk) to large containers or reusable glass milk bottles. Cool Milk will even provide reusable cups.
– Ask your local sports club to stop using single-use plastic cups.
– Ask your local pub/café to stop using individual sauce sachets.
What can you do?
You can make an difference simply by thinking about what you buy and trying to avoid single-use plastic by refilling and reusing.
Have a look at the Woking Library of Things to rent some litter pickers and make an immediate difference in your local community!
We are lucky to have some great refill shops locally to help us do this:
Reusable Coffee Cups
For World Refill Day on 16th June 2026, we pulled together a list of some local coffee shops that are helping us to ditch our use of single-use coffee cups. If you know of any other coffee shops in the Woking area helping the refill revolution, please do let us know.
You can also take a look at our Recycling Guidance for Woking for where you can recycle plastic.
To help you to have the most impact you can visit the Surfers against Sewage Plastic Free Communities website to create your own individual plan and to see the list of items that are the worst offenders.
However, recycling is not the solution to our plastic waste problem as it can only be recycled 1-2 times. We need to need to stop producing plastic in the first place and move towards a circular economy, using packaging materials that can either biodegrade or be recycled indefinitely (like metal and glass). Check out Take the Jump for other ways on how you can be more sustainable.
There are many other impactful actions that we can all be taking both individually and as a community.
If you have success, let us know! plastic@wokingenvironmentaction.org
Get Involved
If you have any ideas of what more we can be doing, would like to set up a particular campaign or have any questions please do contact us at plastic@wokingenvironmentaction.org
We are looking for some more volunteers to join our team. It can be as little or as much time as you want to help, be it collating information and ideas, contacting local schools and businesses or even organising events. Any help is gratefully received.
More Information
For some more local inspiration as to how you can reduce your plastic waste and do your part to save the planet see also Less Plastic or City to Sea.