Weekender: Film festival-goers and city businesses urged to cut plastic waste
Free re-useable drinking bottles will be given to children at the Bradford Family Film Festival in City Park next month in a move to help fight plastic waste.
It is hoped the initiative, led by Festival supporters Bradford Business Improvement District, (BID) will encourage people to turn their back on single-use plastic bottles which are one of the biggest sources of plastic pollution globally.
Bradford BID is urging local businesses to back the campaign by signing up to City to Sea’s Refill scheme, which enables people to fill re-usable bottles for free.
Around 30 businesses are already signed up to the initiative, where organisations display a blue sticker in their windows so people can come in and re-fill a bottle with tap water free of charge. People can find out which businesses offer the service by tapping into the Refill App on their mobile phones.
Bradford BID chairman Ian Ward said: “We were delighted to be approached to work with Bradford Family Film Festival on this project. One of the BID’s key tasks is to improve the look of the city centre and encouraging people to use less plastic will lead to less waste across the area and a more attractive environment for everyone.”
BID manager Jonny Noble said: “We’re asking Bradford businesses across the city centre to support this initiative. We’re giving away the bottles but we also need businesses to back us by agreeing to become a refill station. It’s a great way to attract potential new customers and it helps everyone in the city do their bit for the environment.”
Bradford UNESCO City of Film’s director David Wilson said: “It is fantastic to be working with Bradford BID and we think the initiative will go down well with our festival-goers. The drinking bottles are really useful and a handy size for children so they can be used again and again beyond the Festival.”
The 2019 festival is part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of Bradford UNESCO City of Film. The organisation has worked with partners to ensure as many events as possible are free or subsidised.
This year’s City Park Film Supporters are Bradford BID and also Living Well, a new initiative led by Bradford Council and Bradford NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups. They will be leading a street dance routine every week before the screenings.
The Light Cinema, Picturehouse Bradford at the National Science and Media Museum, Bradford Markets – who are hosting a new pop up cinema – Bradford Classic car show, Cartwright Hall and community cinemas across the district are also partnering in the Festival.
On the big screen in Bradford City Park there will be family favourites including Incredibles 2 and Lego Movie 2. A free screening of the Japanese animation Spirted Away has been moved to the Cubby Broccoli Cinema, at Picturehouse Bradford, on Wednesday, August 14, to make way for an additional film in City Park called A Cat in Paris. There will also be free family film-themed workshops every Wednesday before the main feature film in nearby City Library.
The Festival finale will be at Picturehouse Bradford at the National Science and Media Museum, with a weekend of half-price special feature films including the Avengers:Endgame and Free Solo, in their IMAX cinema, from August 30 to Sept 1. For full details of the Bradford Family Film Festival 2019 see www.bradford.film
For more information on how to sign up for the app, or if you are a business and want to be a refill station, visit https://refill.org.uk/ or e-mail charlotte@refill.org.uk
