A group of University College Isle of Man students has spearheaded a green movement that has resulted in going single-use plastic free.

The idea for the campaign started once the students attended a government training session about how to reduce plastics as part of their Higher National Diploma course.

From the start of the autumn term, UCM has been free of single-use plastic bottles, cutlery, cups and containers and instead food and drink are offered in vegware (plastic made from vegetable matter) and cans, which can be recycled.

Nathan Coyle, Fiona Pendleton, Jamie Lord, Shannon Kaneen and Gemma Jackson styled themselves as ’UCM Plastic Champions’ and, in consultation with UCM’s bosses, set about working towards meeting their objective.

Sue Dixon, manager of UCM’s hospitality and catering department praised the students for making the first move in the direction of UCM becoming entirely plastic free.

She added: ’We have completely replaced plastics in areas where we have control and have regular discussions with suppliers about the way they manage their resources, in the hope that the supply chain will become more environmentally friendly.’

Part of the changes have seen an increase in the number of water fountains on the college campus and all new UCM students are supplied with reusable plastic bottles during their induction.

UCM’s principal, Jo Pretty, added: ’As with any organisation, we have become increasingly aware of our responsibility towards making use of renewable resources and have made a number of adjustments in the past few years.

’However, it is satisfying that our students have become actively involved in making the necessary changes and that they have worked so hard on this. I see this as the first step to many more collaborations in similar initiatives.’

The change follows other government departments committing to reduce or cut out single use plastics in favour of vegware.