For the last few weeks I've been looking at the problems posed by plastic pollution. From the companies that make and use plastic bottles through to the people who pick up plastic litter on our canals. There have been huge steps forward in reducing and recycling plastic waste but all of us could be doing more.

Inspired by the BBC's Blue Planet II we set out to learn more about the problems posed by plastic. But first, if we're going to talk about plastic, we need to accept that sometimes plastic is a really useful material. As a director of a Midlands spring water firm said to me: "No one wants to take a glass bottle of water to the gym."

At Wenlock Spring in Shropshire they produce about 20 million bottles of water every year in the shadow of Wenlock Edge itself - that actually makes them a smaller player in the Midlands bottled water firmament. They use both glass and plastic for their bottles but are focused on reducing the environmental impact of the plastic containers.