Paper straws tend to dissolve on me before I’m even halfway through a drink, but as England banned single-use plastic straws and drink stirrers in 2020, they seem to be here to stay. Several laws have been passed in England to target plastic pollution, from the straw ban to a minimum 10-pence levy on single-use plastic bags. Another batch of regulations have just been put in place this October, banning a range of single-use plastics including plastic plates, trays, bowls, cutlery, and certain polystyrene food containers. While the more recent laws may take some time to fully come into effect, I notice the impacts of the earlier policies around me every day. My collection of tote bags comes in handy on grocery runs, where plastic bags cost extra, and if I order takeout (takeaway?) I’ll probably get wooden utensils and the ever-present disintegrating paper straws. 

Of course, there’s more to climate policy than paper straws and wooden cutlery. The U.K.’s 2008 Climate Change Act is a pledge to cut national carbon emissions by 80% from 1990 levels by 1990. In 2019, this target was updated to a more ambitious goal of net zero emissions by 2050. Though it has a long history of coal power (Great Britain was the starting point of the Industrial Revolution, after all) the U.K. is now moving away from coal and gas and towards renewable energy sources. 2022 was a record year for renewables in the U.K, with 40% of electricity that year coming from solar, wind, biomass and hydropower. Even King Charles III is passionate about the environment, keeping an organic farm on his Gloucestershire estate and giving speeches at global climate summits.

Nevertheless, the U.K. still faces some bumps on the long road to net zero. This September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a major “U-Turn” on the country’s climate targets, scrapping proposed policies and pushing back phase-out deadlines on goods like gas boilers and diesel cars. Though he says he still wants to meet the legally binding 2050 target, just how much this turnaround will affect the timeline remains to be seen. On the whole, though, the U.K. has made a lot of progress on sustainability since 2008 (and especially since the steam-powered 1760s!) I hope that it continues to improve, and that bright things, possibly a sturdier type of sustainable straw, are on the horizon.