An environment-loving group is urging residents to ditch single-use plastics this month and help protect the planet for the international Plastic Free July campaign.

Plastic Free WD, which was kick-started earlier this year by Jacqueline Bruce from Dumbarton and her friends, has been engaging with local businesses and the community to promote the use of alternatives to plastic.

Currently focusing on education and providing advice, Jacqueline wants to let people know making changes in a bid to live plastic-free does not have to be daunting or difficult.

And the awareness campaign month is the perfect chance for people to start making small changes if they aren’t already.

She said: “It’s one big campaign, one big voice - very much a feeling of being part of something bigger.

“You can make a change that’s easy: don’t use a plastic straw on a night out; or use your own water bottle. That’s a really easy one - there are so many plastic bottles and there is no need for them.”

In the build up to the campaign, members of Plastic Free WD have been and will continue to run workshops at Bowling Harbour.

“The response we’ve had since we started has been really positive,” Jacqueline added.

And the group is happy to provide advice to anyone, business or individual, who would like to learn more about how they can contribute to saving the environment, either through social media or every Sunday morning at the Friends of Dumbarton Foreshore clean ups.

Councillor Iain McLaren, told the Reporter he and the council’s sustainability officer have been working closely with the group, looking at innovative ways to support a plastic to biodegradable items switch, such as the provision of a public brown food-waste bin in Bowling for the disposal of compostable containers.

He said: “The global scourge of plastic waste is one of the most important areas of pollution that we can tackle at a local level.

“We unfortunately also have our fair share of people who have not yet worked out that it is their own patch they are spoiling every time they throw their litter on the ground.

“It is a massive, global problem, but we must not be deterred by this, or assume it is someone else’s problem.”