CRICKHOWELL could be heading for a plastic free future – after leading businesses moved to reduce their use of single-use plastic products.

Among them is The Bear Hotel, which last week switched to paper straws instead of plastic ones and this week said it was auditing its entire operation to see what plastics could be done away with.

The Bear joins The Horseshoe Inn in Llangattock who recently announced they would only use compostable environment and animal friendly straws.

Book-ish bookshop have also said they would give 50p off a cup of coffee if customers brought their own cups and are examining their own use of straws and plastic packaging. Other shops in town already use compostable bags for their goods and on March 3, Wales’ first zero waste shop, Natural Weigh, will open its doors in the converted Corn Exchange pub for an entirely plastic-free shopping experience.

The Bear’s co-owner Steve Hindmarsh said: “Crickhowell is a beautiful place and we want to join with others to help keep it that way. Obviously, plastics are very much part of every modern business and they won’t be easy to do away with completely until good, economical alternatives come forward. But we now use paper straws and paper bags for packed lunches and we are looking for alternatives for, for instance, the plastic bags which go in the bins in every bedroom.”

Chloe Masefield of Natural Weigh said: “Our zero waste shop is opening at a really exciting time when everyone is looking to tackle the problem of plastic pollution. Once we are up and running we want to explore the possibility of working with others to win plastic free status for Crickhowell. To do that, businesses need to remove entirely three or more single-use plastic products, replacing these with sustainable alternatives.

“These can include, for instance, encouraging shoppers to bring their own containers – like we will – to giving them wooden forks instead of plastic ones with their takeaways.

“We think businesses will be surprised by how much they save in costs as well as dramatically reducing waste.”