The Laine Pub Company, which owns and operates pubs in Brighton, Hove and London, will operate four bars at Brighton Spiegeltent during the Brighton Fringe Festival – England’s largest open access arts festival taking place between 3 May and 2 June this year.
Drinkers will be able to reuse their cups or return them to Laine’s bars via a deposit scheme for them to recirculate.
After the festival the 40,000 cups provided by Sky Ocean Rescue will be transferred to Laine’s Brighton two seafront premises the Tempest and Fortune of War.
News of the partnership follows the use of 14,000 single-use plastic cups at the 2019 Boat Race and steps taken in 2018 to curb the amount of non-recyclable plastic produced by the pub trade – for example, plastic straws.
Saving our oceans
Laine Pub Company chief executive Gavin George explained: “We’ve long admired the work of Sky Ocean Rescue and their aims to raise awareness of the issues affecting ocean health and the steps they have taken to eliminate all single-use plastics from their business by 2020.
“It’s a subject that’s close to our hearts, especially given the fact that we are a Brighton-based business and every day we see the effect that single-use plastics has on our sea.
“The partnership with Sky Ocean Rescue is in keeping with the festival’s and our environmental policies – we were one of the first pub companies to ban plastic straws and have been instrumental in organising beach clean-ups in Brighton for many years.”
Fiona Ball, Sky Group’s head of inspirational business and Sky Ocean Rescue, added: “The partnership with Laine Pub Company is another great opportunity for us to highlight the need for people to reduce their usage of single-use plastic and help save our oceans.
“Eight million tonnes of plastic enter the world’s oceans every year and that’s largely made up of items such as single-use drinks cups.
“Finding ways to replace these with reusable options for festivals such as this one will make a huge difference.”
