“You don’t have to have a big plan.
You don’t have to do everything at once.
As long as you start somewhere, then it’s better than doing nothing.”
People and organisations, large and small, are doing their part across East Lothian to move towards our net zero, circular economy, plastic-free, and biodiversity targets and ambitions. Oftentimes, the initiatives they undertake go unnoticed and uncelebrated. They do these things because they were inspired, because they are the right things to do. So, these successes may be shared as an aside during casual chats and meetings and often slip under the radar.
But not this time! In a recent meeting between some East Lothian Council Library staff and East Lothian Climate Hub staff, Dorothy Elliot, the Principal Officer of Libraries and Customer Services, casually mentioned that our local libraries have made huge steps towards being plastic-free recently. We decided to dig deeper, and had a lovely and inspiring conversation with her and Katrina Romanis, the Area Customer Service Officer.
Inspiration to begin the journey
Firstly, we asked about the initial motivation for the libraries to move towards being plastic-free.
Katrina said “I attended the internal carbon literacy training that council staff were encouraged to attend. It inspired me to think, just the smallest little thing can make such a difference. You don’t have to have a big plan. You don’t have to do everything at once. As long as you start somewhere, then it’s better than doing nothing. It started us thinking about little bits. We’re by no means there yet, in the libraries. We’re in very initial stages, but it lit that fire to start thinking about what we can do.”
Katrina was so inspired that she encouraged others including Dorothy to go on the course.
After Dorothy attended, she reflected that the training (provided by the Carbon Literacy Trust) was “one of the best training courses I’ve ever been on. It was two full days, but your interest was kept up throughout. At the end you had to pledge a personal challenge and work group challenge: what could you do to make a difference?”
Taking the first steps
Dorothy and Katrina both made pledges to reduce carbon emissions from unnecessary travel. They had help from others in the Council as they “probably had been on the course as well,” reflects Katrina.
Also, Dorothy’s working group pledged to stop purchasing disposable plastic in their crafting stations. “We ordered little packs of ready made craft kits for children, but it was full of little bits of plastic which kids would stick together and then throw away when they got home. It was just an absolute waste, and we were spending money on plastic that just ended up in bins.”
Crucially, Dorothy realised that the power to change this lay in her hands, and she took immediate action.
“Okay, we won’t do that anymore. Instead, we’ll use recycled materials. We ask the public to drop in items that can be reused. It’s been really successful, actually!”
Katrina added “It has! The libraries have all got little boxes, and our regulars know they can just bring in their bits and pieces from the house. Even myself, I must admit when I’m at home I’m always thinking: could the library use that, or do I put it in my own recycling? Now, it’s just part of what people do. They bring these things in for us. And we’ve started doing a lot with clothes, too. We provide re-used clothes and school uniforms.”
Adjusting work practices enables the practice of imagination
Katrina continued, reflecting “It was a huge change for the staff, because the staff liked these (plastic crafting) packs. It was easy. They have to think more now, but everyone’s really buying into it now. We can’t be spending money on things like that.”
She later added that this has the added benefit that “it’s using people’s brains, their imaginations. Rather than having a pack of plastic that builds a specific thing, you’ve now got random different bits and pieces. Every child is making something different. Every child is looking at something different. So, they’re chatting with their friends and using their imaginations more than ever before, which is great.”
“There are some ways that they won’t be able to go 100% plastic-free”, as Katrina says. However, in being imaginative about how to reduce plastic, other opportunities have come to light. For example, before issuing a new library card, staff are exploring other options like seeing if the user already has a National Entitlement Card which could also be used as a library card (and encouraging them to get a NEC if they don’t already have one, to enjoy the other benefits).
Tackling the next challenges on a plastic-free journey
Staff have been getting used to these changes, a movement helped by the imperative for us all to make changes in our everyday lives, such as increased recycling measures. East Lothian Libraries have also been hosting events to enable more creative conversations about sustainability. They have hosted poets, filmmakers, and food growing and cooking workshops for children. Their branch in North Berwick transformed a derelict area of the property into a beautiful, flourishing, food-growing garden where their Bookbug children’s storytelling sessions are now held.
Staff often bring their own unique skills to help with these initiatives. As Katrina says, “luckily, Dionne who runs the North Berwick branch has a very green thumb. So the garden is flourishing.”
They were able to do these things due to being provided a bit of funding, and as Katrina says “every time we are looking at funding, we are thinking of what we can do around the climate.”
For now, as Katrina points out, “book covers are our next big bug bear. They do protect our books, but we do use a lot of plastic in our book covers.” As Dorothy adds, “We need someone to come up with a solution for this, and I’m sure it will happen.” Watch this space, as the East Lothian Climate Hub plans to continue to investigate how East Lothian and other libraries may be able to tackle this and other challenges. We believe that libraries, as the originators of the circular economy and the foundational hubs for the sharing of skills and knowledge, have a crucial part to play in Scotland’s net zero transformation.
Feeling inspired?
Check out a number of re-use and up-cycling themed events happening across the East Lothian Libraries as part of this summer’s ‘Marvellous Makers’ Summer Reading Challenge. East Lothian Climate Action Network member organisations Fixing for a Future and Lower Impact Living run a variety of initiatives and events throughout the year like tool libraries, clothes swaps, and fashion shows!
