It’s that time of the year again! Plastic Free July! Let’s take a look at some of the different ways we can get involved. Perhaps you’ve nailed the zero waste lifestyle at home, but your workplace is an entirely different story. Whatever the case — we can all play our part in Plastic Free July!
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How To Participate In Plastic Free July — At Home
Australian households produce around 1.2 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, but less than 9% of this ends up being recycled.
To get started, we need to identify the common plastic culprits that we’re bringing into the home, and swap them for a reusable option. Here are some of the easiest swaps to make:
- Swap plastic shopping bags for a Reusable Shopping Bag.
- Swap single-use produce bags for Reusable Produce Bags.
- Swap plastic-wrapped bread for loose bread in a Reusable Silicone Food Pouch
- Swap your plastic waste bags for Biodegradable & Compostable Waste Bags.
See our Eco Home categories for more tips!
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How To Participate In Plastic Free July — At Work
If you’ve ever cringed at the amount of unnecessary waste produced inside your workplace — whether it’s products wrapped in plastic, plastic bottles, or takeaway coffee cups — it might be time to steer your workplace in the right direction!
There’s a few different ways you can do this, but first, we highly recommend engaging with your co-workers to start the conversation about plastic pollution. Then, speak to management about participating in Plastic Free July. Perhaps you could suggest some “easy wins” for your workplace, like:
- Avoiding takeaway coffee cups and instead, bringing a Reusable Coffee Cup.
- Setting up a small Compost Bin for food scraps.
- Setting up a soft plastics bin (recycle via REDCycle.
- Conducting a bin audit.
Image: Ever Eco
How To Participate In Plastic Free July — At School & University
Schools and universities tend to produce a lot of waste, but it doesn’t matter whether you’re a student, teacher, parent, or principal — you can help your educational institution to reduce waste. The good news is that many schools and universities already have sustainability committees, so you can introduce the idea of Plastic Free July to like-minded individuals.
But, you don’t have to do it alone! Plastic Free July has a dedicated Plastic Free Schools Challenge, which equips your school or university with the support to get involved. Help:
- Reduce your school canteen or university cafe’s reliance on single-use plastics.
- Encourage parents to pack plastic-free school lunches.
- Assist your institution with planning plastic-free events.
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How To Participate In Plastic Free July — In Your Community
Communities all around Australia are recognising the benefits of plastic-free events to encourage sustainable habits and cut down on waste. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a member of your local council, organising a major community event, or new to your community — you have the right to have your say!
The first step is to find like-minded people in your community who would be open to discussing Plastic Free July. Chat with family, friends, colleagues, business owners, and your local councillors to see where you could get involved. Try:
- Organise a beach clean-up event.
- Organise a plastic-free picnic.
- Volunteer at a plastic-free community event.
- Help to run a plastic-free workshop for your community.
