Last week Okehampton residents joined in with the Big Plastic Count to record how much plastic they threw away in a week.

Residents across the town saw the true extent of their plastic use as they took part in the national scheme to help charities Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic with their UK-wide investigation into plastic waste.

Fran Rickwood from Plastic Free Okehampton said: ‘Following the Big Plastic Count week, our little family of two looked carefully at our plastic waste to see what improvements we could make. We already enjoy using sustainable alternatives for our toiletries and household cleaning products and have enjoyed this element of our shopping being plastic free for many years now. I used to bake doggy treats and can see I need to start doing that again!’

Plastic counters have until May 31 to submit their results to the Big Plastic Count, which will analyse the nation’s data. National results are expected to be revealed in mid-July.