Butt to Barra District News

Autism Eilean Siar AGM - The AGM will be held on Wednesday 25th May from 12.00 to 2pm at the Newton Community Association on Seaforth Road , Stornoway.

All are welcome and tea and coffee will be served. Come along and support us with our work in the community.

For more information please contact: [email protected] or 07444425322.

Plastic free in June - The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the UK’s leading marine charity, is asking people to give up single-use plastic during June.

The challenge is to say goodbye to conveniences like pre-packed sandwiches, ready meals and plastic-bottled drinks for a day, a week or the whole month.

Last year almost 850 people took part in the MCS Plastic Challenge, and over 95% said they would continue reducing their plastic use after the challenge was over. The charity hopes even more people will take part in 2016.

Dr. Sue Kinsey, MCS Technical Specialist - Waste, said she was amazed at the lengths people had to go to find products that didn’t contain plastic of any kind. By its very nature, this is a tricky challenge. It highlights how reliant we have become on plastic. “

MCS says the amount of plastic litter on our beaches has increased by 180% in the last 20 years and has become a massive threat to marine wildlife.

Plastic bags, bottles and tiny plastic pieces are regularly found in the stomachs of turtles and other sea creatures, and in some cases have caused their death from starvation or choking.

Plastic plays a massive part in all of our lives, from brushing our teeth and showering, to plastic-packed products and cooking.

For instance many of us have lunch on the go – and that highlights the extent of our plastic problem - boiled eggs in individual plastic containers, apple slices in plastic bags, pasties on a polystyrene tray wrapped in plastic, plus prepacked sandwiches and bottled drinks.

Our clamour for convenience is bad news for our seas.

Plastic is durable and lightweight, but it’s these properties that allow it to remain in the marine environment for hundreds if not thousands of years.

Plastics are among the most persistent synthetic materials in existence and are now a significant and extensive marine pollutant.”

To register to take part in the Plastic Challenge go to: www.mcsuk.org/plasticchallenge MCS offers help and advice through an online community in the run up to the challenge and all through the month of June.

STORNOWAY

Europe Day – The Europe Direct Information Centre – Outer Hebrides plans to provide information about the policies and institutions of the European Union on the 13th of May in Stornoway Library from 10am to 1pm.

There will also be a Europe Day window display in the library cafe for the week preceding the event.

Europe Day is recognised on 9 May each year.