A NEW initiative in Bude is taking a stand against plastics in restaurants, and is encouraging other food and drink businesses to do the same.
Claire Giner, who owns Rosie’s Kitchen at Crooklets beach with her business partner Tom, came up with the idea for The Happy Turtle Company in November 2017, with plans to launch the initiative in March or April of this year. However, things have been moving in a positive and quick direction.
She told the Post: “The Happy Turtle Company started in Bude, and we actually came up with the idea in November with the aim to launch in about March-April time. But we’re now actually launching a lot sooner than that — there’s still a few things we need to get finalised, like our website isn’t ready yet. It’s up, but it’s just not live.”
Claire and her business partner have been involved in the hospitality business in the Bude area since she moved to the town ten years ago. She said: “Myself and my business partner run restaurants in Bude, and we wanted to see how we could go plastic free by getting rid of plastic straws, cups, things like that. We started using paper straws — but you know when you were younger and you used to have those straws that would go all mushy? They were a bit like that, and there’s no need for them to be.”
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Therefore, The Happy Turtle Company decided to manufacture their own items for their new brand, using sustainable materials — and which didn’t turn to mush. Using the image of a very happy green turtle, The Happy Turtle Company will supply plastic free straws, cutlery, cups and more, and it is hoped other restaurants in Bude and the surrounding areas will get on board and purchase some of the goods for their own businesses. The items are still in production, but are expected to be released in time for Easter.
Current items include 6mm paper straws, 10mm jumbo paper straws for milkshakes and smoothies, 8oz and 12oz hot cups and lids, and 12oz cold cups and domed lids. The Happy Turtle Company also hopes to introduce wooden cutlery and sustainable takeaway boxes in the near future.
“This all came about around the time when that video went viral of the turtle with the straw stuck up his nose,” Claire said. “That was awful to watch — but that’s where the name comes from, so it’s all tied in together. I was very conscious that I didn’t want to use plastics in the restaurants any more.”
The Happy Turtle Company’s objectives are simple. Claire continued: “I want people to make the change from plastic to plant-based alternatives. We’re also giving money back into the community and into charities and organisations.”
A bit like many supermarket schemes for customers to drop a token into a box for their chosen charity, The Happy Turtle Company is adopting a similar scheme to raise money for local organisations. If people buy the products from the company, their money will be turned into tokens for customers to choose whichever charity or organisation they feel would benefit the most from any funding. For example, if a business spends £100 on The Happy Turtle Company items, they would receive 100 tokens in return. Twenty points would automatically go to the organisations at the core of The Happy Turtle Company, but the remaining 80 points would be donated by the business to an organisation or cause of choice. Proceeds of the sales will go to the Happy Turtle Foundation.
Claire said: “We want to get as many people using the products as possible, get plastic out of the seas and benefit local communities too.”
With a background in marine conservation, Claire knows the importance of tackling the ongoing crisis of plastic pollution in the oceans and on the beaches. “Marine conservation is my history and background, so the environment has been very much at the forefront of my life for a very long time. Rosie’s (Kitchen) is by the sea, and we’ve been changing the way we do things.
“We get so many people coming in — tourists and visitors — it’s important to show them how you can change from plastic. I’m also on the committee of A Greener Bude (which launched in February), so it’s good to be able to link the two things together. The product is good, so it’s all tied in nicely.”
Bude has seen the introduction of a revolutionary campaign to encourage the disuse of single use plastic, taking care of coastal communities and the world’s oceans, with many organisations, schemes and initiatives having gone national and even worldwide. Bude is home to the #2MinuteBeachClean, created by Martin Dorey; ReFILL, the brainchild of Deb Rosser; Bude Cleaner Seas Project; numerous beach clean groups and was even the host town of the 2016 Bude Wave Conference, organised by Bude Cleaner Seas’ Avril Sainsbury. These organisations, along with The Happy Turtle Company and charities such as Cornwall Wildlife Trust and Keep Britain Tidy, are all part of a wider initiative that launched recently, called A Greener Bude. There are some exciting projects in the pipeline for this scheme.
People at the launch of A Greener Bude learnt that The Happy Turtle Company is also working with Coastal Recycling to trial ‘turtle bins’ for participating businesses in Bude, for all Happy Turtle products. The items can be put in the turtle bins, which will be collected for free by Coastal Recycling, with the products being recovered and any waste being turned into energy.
Claire added: “Bude is at the forefront of this ongoing campaign, and it’s very exciting. It’s a really exciting time to be here.”
Keep an eye out for the launch of The Happy Turtle Company’s website, which will be going live soon.
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