A PLASTIC-FREE picnic was held at Launceston Castle on Sunday, August 25 on behalf of the Plastic Free Launceston Initiative.

The initiative is run by the charity Surfers Against Sewage, and their community leader, Olivia Riby, was there to support.

Olivia said: “This is the first time I’ve done it in Launceston and it ties in with the Plastic Free Launceston campaign. To achieve the Plastic Free Community status from Surfers Against Sewage you have to hold two events, and that was one of them.

“The idea came to me as it could be a community event and it was free to attend. It was great as the kids were playing football and it brought everyone together as well as raising awareness about the initiative through something as simple as a picnic.”

Olivia was delighted with the response.

She said: “About 35 turned up, which is quite good for a first one, I thought it’d be much less. The town council are looking into doing it yearly.

“Everyone there had a discussion as to what they do and had an opportunity to share their single-use plastic.

“We were really pleased with how it went and we look forward to doing another one in the future.”

To find out more about the group, search ‘Plastic Free Launceston’ on Facebook.