AN eco cup from Bude made its way to Number 10 Downing Street last week.

The environment secretary, Michael Gove MP, was seen using a ReFILL Bude eco cup on his way to and during the meeting of the Cabinet in London on Tuesday, January 9.

The Conservative MP has been in his role as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs since June last year.

Mr Gove’s use of the ReFILL cup follows news that ministers have called for a 25p ‘latte levy’ on disposable polysterene coffee cups to be considered at parliament, with many of the 2.5-billion disposable cups bought every day from coffee shops in the UK ending up in landfill.

Similar to the plastic bag charge in supermarkets, ministers are calling for a 25p charge on the cups to reduce the amount of cups going to general waste. Otherwise, there is wide hope that a ban on these cups may be considered by ministers.

The disposable cups, often containing drinks from coffee shops, are made from paper, with a plastic lining. The Environmental Audit Committee’s recent report has highlighted that less than one in 400 cups are recycled, with 2.5-billion thrown away.

The call of a 25p levy would invest in ‘reprocessing facilities and ‘binfrastructure’’ to ensure that these cups are recycled.

This also follows Prime Minister Theresa May’s launch of her 25 Year Environment Plan, which will focus on eliminating avoidable plastic waste by the end of 2042, extending the 5p carrier bag charge to all retailers in England, and working with supermarkets to encourage them to introduce plastic-free aisles. The government will also fund plastic innovation, it has been announced.

The ReFILL scheme is a nationwide environmental project aiming to reduce the use of single use plastics used and bought every day in the UK, often ending up in the sea and affecting marine life across the world. However, the scheme originated from a local initiative in Bude, conjured up by local teacher Deb Rosser.

Deb, who moved to Bude almost ten years ago, has been heavily involved in environmental campaigning in the local area for some time, starting out and continuing to carry out regular beach cleans at her local beach, Crooklets.

In 2014, the ReFILL scheme was launched by herself with the help of Keep Britain Tidy’s BeachCare initiative, after seeing the devastating effect that plastic pollution has on the world’s oceans and closer to home.

With the ReFILL scheme having gone nationwide, reaching areas of the UK such as Bristol with Natalie Fee’s City to Sea scheme, Deb and a team consisting of other local environmental campaigners, including Avril Sainsbury of Bude Cleaner Seas Project, are soon to launch a new project — A Greener Bude — in February.

Deb and Avril decided it would be proactive to send Mr Gove one of the ReFILL cups, and it was hand delivered to him via Bude Cleaner Seas.

Photographs emerged of the environment secretary clutching his mint green cup as he made his way to a meeting, with the cup conveniently matching his tie.

Deb said: “Judging by Facebook and Twitter, it’s been a bit of a media storm. This is good, not only for Bude and Bude Sea Pool, which is the main beneficiary from all proceeds made from the ReFILL scheme, but ultimately it’s great for the planet. It’s fantastic that people are recognising that we need to be using sustainable materials. My cups are made from bamboo, which can be composted once you have finished with it.”

Speaking about Mr Gove being pictured with the cup, Deb continued: “I think it’s fantastic for the plastic cause. Whatever politician is using it, whatever political party you are from, the message is that plastic needs to be tackled and we need to do what we can to reduce the use of it.

“Bude has always been at the forefront of this cause, I think. [The beach clean group] based at Crooklets beach, is one of the longest beach cleaning groups in the country, which was heavily supported by BeachCare. BeachCare provided the support and initially funded ReFILL, and assisted me with grants to get the ReFILL project off the ground. Bude really is at the front, we’re leading the way, and we’re doing it quietly as well.”

On Friday, February 9, Deb, Avril and the team behind A Greener Bude will be officially launching the project at Rosie’s Kitchen, Crooklets. Local businesses and members of the town council will be invited to attend, where they will be able to look at ways of re-evaluating their sustainability.

“We’ve got to start singing from the rooftops that we’re here and we’re doing this,” Deb continued. “We’ve got lots of projects in the pipeline, which is all very exciting.”

Avril added: “We noticed Michael Gove in the news carrying a disposable coffee cup. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to send him a little Christmas gift from Bude — a ReFILL Bude reusable cup. Michael Gove was last week pictured carrying the Bude ReFILL cup outside No.10 and on his way to a cabinet meeting with his cup.

“Ditching single use plastics and going for options such as reusable cups is where we need to be, and it was very encouraging indeed to see Michael Gove making such a clear statement of intent.”