It’s the end of July 2026. We’ve seen some of the hottest months on record and an increased number of wildfires in the UK. The environment is front of mind for a lot of us as we reach the end of a Global Plastic Free month. Here's what we’re doing to reduce the use of single use plastic in Beer No Evil and why saying “No” to plastic takeaway cups is so important to us.
Being based in Worthing, just a stone’s throw from the beach, the sea is just at the back of Beer No Evil, about 20 seconds walk as the seagull flies. We love being by the sea and it’s part of the reason why being environmentally conscious is so important to us, after all it’s kind of in our name. It’s part of our core ethos which recently saw us named as one of the UK's Green Growth 100, and we are honestly chuffed to keep pushing the boundaries of what a small business can do for the planet without it costing the earth.
We love the seaside, having met in Barcelona and while in London we often visited relatives on the south coast, so we’re determined to protect it from the tide of plastic pollution. If you saw our recent Instagram Reel, you’ll know we are always looking for ways to cut out single-use plastics, and the data shows just how urgent this is. The Marine Conservation Society’s latest Beachwatch Report states that across the UK, a staggering 87% of all litter found on beach cleans is plastic, with single-use wrappers—like traditional crisp packets—recorded on 80% of surveyed beaches. We have also found a huge number of disposable vapes, plastic cups and bottles in our monthly beach cleans. We refuse to let our shop contribute to that footprint and statistic.
To reduce our single use plastic within Beer No Evil we looked at our snacks. And for our crisps, after searching and searching we found Spudos, just after they appeared on Dragons Den. It means we serve crisps in 100% home compostable bags, you shake your own flavour on and munch away. Knowing that you’re saving another single use crisp packet from landfill, incineration, or the sea. Our peanuts are served in glass bowls and we hope to introduce more sustainable snacks soon. In fact, we just dug into our old snack orders and realised that by ditching standard packets, we’ve already saved around 2,000 plastic bags from ending up in landfill or an incinerator!
But our stance on plastic goes beyond our snacks. We get asked for plastic cups for takeaway drinks to head down to the beach. But being this close to the water, we have always flat-out refused to use them. If we could find an environmentally friendly alternative to a single-use cup, we would but there really doesn’t appear to be anything out there at this time, so the best choice, for us, is not to hand them out at all. To us, serving in a plastic cup close to the beach just doesn’t make sense.
Instead of relying on single use plastic, we have always been committed to a refill and reuse culture. Through our glass Flagon Filler - for perfect draft beer at home - to our wine refills - giving you fantastic sustainable wines at a good price. If you’re heading down to the beach or the park, grab a can or fill up a flagon—and if you have any empties, remember you can always bring them back to us and we’ll take care of the recycling. Let us all work to a “Leave No Trace” approach.
We’re always up trying to be as sustainable as we can and if you have ideas to help us in our mission, please do let us know. In the meantime let’s keep doing our bit for the beautiful Sussex coast. Cheers to that!
Gareth and Gemma