If you’ve ever enjoyed a coffee, a snack, or a drink while strolling along the Brighton seafront, you’ll know there’s nothing quite like it. You’ll also be aware that beach cleans are never-ending tasks and that bins are often overflowing and that plastic is the very worst offender. The good people of Leave No Trace do an excellent job and, if we aren’t helping with the cleanups, the more we can reduce our dependence on disposable plastics, the better.
We sat down with Matthew to talk about their inspiring sustainability pledge: removing single-use plastic for customers entirely.
Being on the seafront, we see firsthand the damage and destruction that comes with plastic products. We made the conscious decision that we don’t want to be a part of that, and we believe it’s our responsibility to protect our environment.
Juggling different kitchens right on the pebbles is no easy task, but Sea Lanes are making it look simple. For them, it’s all about making steady little tweaks that add up to a big win for our beach.
Small Swap, Big Impact
Going single-use plastic-free isn’t just about saying “no to plastic straws” – it’s a complete rethink of how a restaurant or food hall operates. Matthew and the team have introduced some brilliant eco-friendly alternatives:
- Huskee Cups: Innovative reusable cups made from raw coffee husks (a byproduct of coffee production) as part of a closed-loop system.
- Straws – Compostable straws only given when a customer specifically asks for them.
- Compostable Everything: From takeaway dip pots to greaseproof paper, anything disposable on a customer’s plate is 100% compostable.
- Real Cutlery & Crockery: Swapping flimsy plastic cutlery for proper metal cutlery and ceramic plates wherever possible.
- Refill Stations: Dedicated water stations, with reusable cups if you choose tap water and to encourage people to bring and fill their own reusable bottles.
Behind the Scenes: A 65% Recycling Success
The impact goes far beyond what customers see on their tables. By eliminating customer-facing single-use plastics, the venue overhauled its back-of-house waste systems. In less than a year, they boosted their site recycling rate from 34% to an impressive 65% – with plans to push that number even higher!
Why It’s Good for You (and the Planet)
Ditch the takeaway cup and you ditch what’s in it too – a study out this year found your daily flat white in a plastic-lined cup could mean swallowing hundreds of thousands of microplastic particles a year. Real crockery just feels better anyway, and you can relax knowing your visit isn’t leaving a footprint on the beach. Best of all, it takes the pressure off us as consumers. When we want to make sustainable choices about where to drink and dine, we can trust that the team has already done all the thinking and doing behind the scenes so that we can simply relax and enjoy ourselves.
Get Involved: We can all choose to pick up rubbish and bits of plastic on every visit to the beach, but if you want to be in good company and get extra support, Leave No Trace base themselves at Sea Lanes on the last Sunday of every month. You can join in the beach clean and be rewarded with a free ice cream.
Any top tips for enjoying life at the beach? We’d love to hear them.