With plastic so ingrained in our everyday lives, it might be hard to imagine going even a day without using some form of plastic, let alone a whole month; but that is exactly what thousands of people have pledged to do as part of the annual Plastic Free July initiative.
“Plastic Free July aims to raise awareness of the problems and amount of single-use disposable plastic in our lives and challenges people to do something about it. You can sign up for a day, a week or the whole month and try to refuse ALL single-use plastic or try the TOP 4: plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups and straws.” - www.plasticfreejuly.org
By saying NO to single-use plastic today you help to:
The movement originated in Perth, WA but is now a global challenge running in 90 countries with participants coming up with creative solutions to the single-use plastic problem, aiming to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in landfill and in our oceans and waterways.
Here are our top 6 ideas for reducing single-use plastic in your life:
Resources:
Say No To Plastic Bags Dunsborough - https://www.facebook.com/lasticbagsindunsborough/?fref=ts
Boomerang Bags - https://www.facebook.com/boomerangbags/?fref=ts
Plastic Free July - http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/
Margaret River Plastic Free July - https://www.facebook.com/groups/137954373065787/
Plastic Free July South West - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1455376508111247/
One Million Women - Plastic Free July feature - http://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/get-ready-plastic-free-july/
“Australians use 3.92 billion plastic bags a year, that's over 10 million new bags being used every day. An estimated 3.76 billion bags or 20,700 tonnes of plastic are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia every year. Australians dump 7,150 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute or 429,000 bags every hour” - www.cleanup.org.au/au/Campaigns/plastic-bag-facts.html
“Plastic Free July aims to raise awareness of the problems and amount of single-use disposable plastic in our lives and challenges people to do something about it. You can sign up for a day, a week or the whole month and try to refuse ALL single-use plastic or try the TOP 4: plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups and straws.” - www.plasticfreejuly.org
By saying NO to single-use plastic today you help to:
- reduce nearly 4 billion plastic bags used in Australia every year
- reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in landfill taking hundreds of years to break down
- reduce the amount of plastics that end up in our waterway and oceans which are often consumed by marine life
The movement originated in Perth, WA but is now a global challenge running in 90 countries with participants coming up with creative solutions to the single-use plastic problem, aiming to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in landfill and in our oceans and waterways.
Here are our top 6 ideas for reducing single-use plastic in your life:
- Bring your own shopping bags
You could either reuse any plastic bags you currently have in your house, or use a reusable fabric bag. Some stores like IGA even have Boomerang Bags that you can borrow and bring back next time. - Buy a reusable coffee cup
Some cafes in the area even offer a small discount if you bring your own cup. Win/win! - Ditch the straw
- Use a reusable water bottle
- Set your produce free
Your fruit and veggies don’t need to be in a plastic bag to be weighed at the checkout. Or use reusable bags. - Buy in bulk
You can avoid plastic packaging for many food items by buying cereals, nuts and seeds etc in bulk from local markets
Resources:
Say No To Plastic Bags Dunsborough - https://www.facebook.com/lasticbagsindunsborough/?fref=ts
Boomerang Bags - https://www.facebook.com/boomerangbags/?fref=ts
Plastic Free July - http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/
Margaret River Plastic Free July - https://www.facebook.com/groups/137954373065787/
Plastic Free July South West - https://www.facebook.com/groups/1455376508111247/
One Million Women - Plastic Free July feature - http://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/get-ready-plastic-free-july/
“Australians use 3.92 billion plastic bags a year, that's over 10 million new bags being used every day. An estimated 3.76 billion bags or 20,700 tonnes of plastic are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia every year. Australians dump 7,150 recyclable plastic bags into landfills every minute or 429,000 bags every hour” - www.cleanup.org.au/au/Campaigns/plastic-bag-facts.html