1Rebel, a group of high-intensity fitness boutiques in London, is banning single-use plastics in all its studios. The company has launched a sustainability campaign, #RebelAgainstPlastic, which addresses the problem of careless and excessive plastic consumption.

The campaign will start in 1Rebel’s London South Bank Central location that opened just last week, Metro reports. Next, it will be rolled out in the other three new studios opened this year.

Single-use plastic water bottles will be replaced across all the gyms with environmentally-friendly reusable stainless-steel bottles. Plastic protein shake cups will become a thing of the past, too, replaced by biodegradable cups and straws. They will also introduce 100 percent recyclable and reusable kit bags in changing rooms.

This major push to ditch plastic comes after the company calculated that they use around 37,000 plastic water bottles every year in just two of their studios. Recognizing that most people only used these bottles for about 45 minutes (while it can take hundreds of years for the plastic to break down), they knew they needed to do something to create more sustainable habits amongst their patrons.

“We are all aware of the shocking statistics around the amount of plastic waste that ends up in our oceans every year,” said James Balfour, co-founder and CEO of 1Rebel. “As innovators in the fitness industry, we have a responsibility to tackle this problem and put an end to the mindless consumption of plastic that has become the norm within the gym environment. We hope this inspires others to overhaul their waste and recycling policies in a similar way.”

Over 8.8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the oceans every single year and it is predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050. With this in mind, we all have to step up and take responsibility for our trash! To find out how you can make more conscious choices about what you buy and throw away, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign!

Image source: 1Rebel/Facebook