My Starter Guide to Plastic Free July

Plastic Free July is something millions of people do in July to help reduce their plastic intake.

You participate by going completely plastic free for however long you want. Whether you only reduce a little plastic, or you completely stop your plastic use all together, it's a great way to start on your plastic free journey. I am not an expert as this is my first time doing it but I'm inviting you along to learn with me.

You may be asking "How do i start?" It can seem like a daunting task, but starting can be simple. Doing little things such as using a reusable cup to get coffee every morning, or bringing your own bags to the grocery store, it all helps. Its actually easy to do, it usually just takes a little thinking ahead. There are so many ways to not use plastic in your day to day life, and just to prove it I have gathered a list to help you get started:

Basic starters:

-Buying reusable water bottles

-Buying reusable straws or going straw-less (I recommend a collapsible straw)

-Use reusable bags instead of plastic at the grocery store (some stores charge for plastic bags so you may save money while doing it too!)

-Bring your own cup for coffee (if you bring your own cup to Starbucks you save 10 cents!)

-Use plastic free alternatives for fruits and vegetables

-Buy meat fresh instead of getting the plastic trays of meat and fish

-Buy fresh rolls and muffins instead of pre-packaged baked goods

-Recycle, reuse, and reduce!

-Buy shampoo and conditioner bars, deodorant bars, and soap bars instead of using plastic containers

At work:

-If you know you will have leftovers, bring your own Tupperware to work

-Get creative with trash bags and garbage liners (or buy compost-able ones)

-Recycle papers when you can or get recycling bins available in your workplace

At school:

-Bring reusable sandwich bags in your lunchbox

-Encourage your teachers not to use plastic in class

-Bring your own water bottle instead of buying one

-Don’t use plastic silverware

Once you start using less plastic you will realize you can live without it. It can be difficult so don't feel discouraged if you forget. You wouldn’t be able to learn not to bite your nails in one day, and just like that its a bad habit we need to break. If you feel overwhelmed know that you don't have to do it for the whole month, you can do for a day, a week, 2 weeks, whatever works best for you.

It doesn't just stop there. Just because you aren't using plastic doesn't mean other people will all stop too. Lead by example for others and encourage them to start their own plastic free journey. You can tell them about plastic free July, why your doing it, and how they can join too. Research and tell people about where plastic all goes and how much plastic is still somewhere on earth (spoiler alert, almost all of it) Say your work or school is doing activities with plastic, you can suggest alternative ways to do it. Encourage local restaurants to do straw by request. If you live by a beach you can find or organize a beach clean up, or you can pick up trash by a highway. You can also just pick up trash when you see it.

If you don't feel comfortable meeting and talking to people, you don't have to get up and make the change yourself. You can help by donating and supporting companies who clean the ocean, like 4Ocean. Or you can research up on them and put things on the internet informing others like I am. I know it can be hard for people to be up in front of people and having everyone pay attention to you so don't think you cant help.

No one should have an excuse for not caring. As the beloved scientist Bill Nye said “There are plenty of options to help climate change. Are any of them free? No, nothings free!”

I hope this helps you start your plastic free journey! You can always check out Plastic Free July's website if you have questions, want to learn more, or want to make a pledge. Let me know what your doing this Plastic Free July in the community section of the blog!

Sources:

“Be Part of the Solution.” Plastic Free July, www.plasticfreejuly.org/.