Plastic-free Pioneers

Venus is on a mission to show how we can all do our bit to protect our coastline, writes Chrissy Harris.

It started with straws. Way back in 2000, Michael, Louisa and Lee decided to swap plastic straws for paper versions in the family’s first Venus beach café at Blackpool Sands near Dartmouth. By 2002, straws had been ditched altogether. “At the time, many of our customers didn’t understand why they couldn’t have one,” says Michael. “People hated it!”

Since that pioneering move, Michael and the team have stayed ahead of the green curve, striving to eliminate single-use plastics from all the Venus beachside cafés at Bigbury-on-Sea, Broadsands in Paignton and Teignmouth.

All drinks are served in home compostable cups (polystyrene cups have never been used here). The wrapping used for cakes and other food is home compostable, and food preparation gloves are biodegradable. All sauce portion pots are made from paper or bagasse (a fibrous material left behind after harvesting sugar cane). In addition, Venus was the first café to serve water in cans, which is known to be easier and more environmentally friendly to recycle.

Michael agrees that the variety of plastic-free alternatives available on the market has certainly increased over the last 24 years. Plus, we’re all more clued up on the importance of having less plastic in our lives.

But, Michael adds, becoming one of the greenest café operators around has been a long journey – and there’s still some way to go. “Most people get it and are happy that what we’re doing is for the sake of the environment, our oceans and beaches,” he says, talking about the positive feedback and engagement with Venus’s sustainability ethos. “But I also think a lot of people honestly don’t care enough. They like what we’re doing, but they don’t want to get involved with it.”

Spreading the word is something the team at Venus are keen to keep doing. The company’s single-use plastic-free mission is well documented in its cafés, where customers can easily see exactly what’s being done and why. Michael and the team are always on the lookout for new, better alternatives to plastic packaging and work with suppliers who share their ethos.

For instance, Venus uses crisps supplied by Two Farmers, the only firm in the UK to use a 100% home compostable packet. “We do our best,” says Michael, explaining that it can be tough wading through the ‘greenwashing’ (vague or misleading claims about products being environmentally sound). “It’s about knowing who to believe,” he adds. “I accept that whatever we do is not going to be perfect but it’s about being the least damaging. We’re trying to make a difference and encourage other people to do the same.”