DIANE Lyle, a Ludlow Town councillor and founder of the Ludlow Repair café has been explaining her contribution to reducing plastic waste.

The Repair Café takes place every three months, alternatively at the Ludlow Mascall Centre and the Rockspring Centre. People take in older items for experts to make an attempt a repair to extend working life.

“Having been brought up within the narrow confines of Anglo-Catholicism – and probably because of it – I don’t consider myself religious, but this year I decided to give up something for Lent,” said Ms Lyle.

“Not wine. Not chocolate Not meat but plastic! And, come Easter Sunday morning, there could, be no going back.

“It’s been as challenging as I expected, and as rewarding; but equally, it’s been shocking and depressing to see just how much single-use plastic has insidiously invaded our everyday lives.

“Aside from plastic bottles and containers, there’s all that unnecessary packaging, in cling-film and in cellophane which can’t be reused, which goes into the black bin and thus to landfill where is takes an age to breakdown – or into an incinerator.”

The project has resulted in new shopping habits.

“My Lent project has meant changes to shopping and eating habits,” added Ms Lyle.

“Shopping takes longer because, now I’ve sourced where I can get the produce I need for the planned meals, it’s not the quick dash to the supermarket.

“Shopping has become an event; an adventure and not something to be done in a hurry. It’s a reminder of how my mother and grandmother used to shop – time to chat, to meet others doing the same thing, to get to know and be known by the local shopkeepers.

“In fact, shopping has become a pleasure! I can’t boycott the supermarkets altogether – there just are occasions when only they sell what I need. But the weeks when I don’t cross their threshold is a huge tick in my ‘Lent’ column!”