Celebrate Plastic Free July All During July
Every July is Plastic Free July
Help stop plastic pollution. Refuse single-use plastics like this sandwich bag that sea turtles and fish can mistake for jellyfish.
Image credit: Ben Mierement, NOAA NOS (ret.)
In early July we have Plastic Bag Free Day. But did you know that the entire month of July is devoted to avoiding single-use plastics?
Yep, it’s Plastic Free July!
According to the celebration’s official website, the goal of this month is “to raise awareness of the problems with single-use disposable plastic and challenges people to do something about it.”
The Earth Carers Waste Education team in Western Australia created Plastic Free July back in 2011. That first year 40 people in Perth, Western Australia took part. By 2016 the celebration was worldwide, with more than 1 million people pledging to give up single-use plastics for July.
In 2017 one of the team members, Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, founded the Plastic Free Foundation. The foundation now leads the Plastic Free July campaign every year.
What’s Wrong With Plastic?
Two of the biggest problems with plastic is it can harm wildlife and it lasts forever.
It lasts forever.
Yes, it really does. Now, that doesn’t mean products made from plastic last forever. The plastic bag rips, the plastic bottle cracks, the plastic fork breaks in half.
But unlike things like paper and cardboard, the plastic itself doesn’t break down. It just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. Eventually those pieces may become too small to see. But they’re not gone.
And even those tiny bits of microplastic are a problem. Especially when they get into water, and then into fish and other sea creatures. And from there into larger animals, including us.
But that only happens to plastic that gets exposed to sunlight. The stuff buried in landfills doesn’t even break apart that much. It will still be recognizable thousands of years from now.
Why is that so bad?
Because we’re treating the earth as a giant garbage dump! There’s only so many holes we can dig and fill with trash.
It harms wildlife
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen the pictures and heard the stories.
- A turtle’s shell deformed because it grew with plastic wrapped around it.
- A sea turtle dying with a stomach full of plastic.
- A bird tangled in fishing line.
When animals get tangled in plastic fishing line or nets, it can get so tight it cuts them. Sea turtles have lost one or more flippers from the damage.
Infected cuts may kill the animal. Or, it may get too tight for the animal to move. It may then starve to death or be killed by another animal.
Plastic bags floating in the ocean look like jellyfish to hungry turtles and fish. So they eat the bags. Of course, plastic has no nutrients, so at best the animal get weak from lack of real food.
But the bigger problem is the stuff often gets stuck in the animal’s stomach or intestines. Blockages like this can kill. In sea turtles it can also cause gasses to build up in the turtles’ bodies. Then they can’t dive, which means they can’t catch their food.
Sea turtle rescues everywhere keep finding sick and dying sea turtles with stomachs full of plastic. Sometimes the turtles survive after surgery. Often they don’t.
In 2019 there have been multiple stories of dead whales washing up on beaches with stomachs full of plastic.
Throwing away your single-use plastics properly isn’t the answer
Yes, much of the plastic pollution in the world is probably from careless people. They abandon fishing line and nets. Leave plastic bags where they can fly away. Toss empty water bottles on the ground.
But much of it is also accidental.
- Lightweight plastic flies away when being emptied into garbage trucks.
- Your garbage bin gets knocked over in high winds, and plastic blows away.
- Animals root through garbage at the dump, freeing the plastic to fly away.
And remember, it lasts forever!
Keeping this stuff out of the world in the first place is a much better answer than disposing of it “properly.”
What About Recycling?
Yes, recycling plastics is a good thing. But only to a point.
For one thing, not all plastic is easily recyclable. Some recycling centers won’t even take certain kinds, like styrofoam.
And taking single-use plastics and turning them into other single-use plastic items isn’t really solving the problem. At some point, probably sooner than later, someone’s going to throw that plastic item into the trash. Or the plastic bag is going to blow away. Where will it end up? Stuck in a tree or clogging waterways, probably.
Plus, it takes energy to keep recycling these plastics.
No matter how you look at it, reusable products are infinitely better than single-use plastics.
Can’t We Use Any Plastic?
Well, we’re not going quite that far. Yet.
Plastic Free July focuses on single-use plastics.
And yes, reusable plastics are better than single-use plastic. But only by a little.
Even reusable plastic items will wear out eventually. And then what do you do with them? Recycle or toss, just like the single-use items. And then you’re right back to the same problem with any plastic:
- It’s not all recyclable.
- It takes energy to recycle.
- It won’t ever disappear, just turn into smaller pieces of plastic.
So even better is choosing items made from some material other than plastic. Look for paper, wood, metal, or cloth alternatives. Which is best depends on what you’ll be using it for.
Scroll down for ideas on celebrating this environmentally friendly month.
How to Celebrate Plastic Free July
Avoid single-use plastics!
As much as possible, anyway.
If you’re not already using reusable shopping bags, start!
Now, you don’t have to stick with the boring, branded bags many stores sell. They’re cheap (often $1 or so) and easy, but kinda boring! And not always very strong.
If you’d rather carry something with a bit more style or strength, you’ll find a nearly endless array of options. Consider these:
- Bags with their own storage pouches. The pouches look like fruit!
- Collapsible shopping boxes. They stay open for easy packing, and have reinforced handles for durability. Fold ‘em flat when you’re done.
- Oriental Spice Pouch bags. Set of 5 pretty patterned bags with their own storage pouches.
Other ways to avoid plastic
At the store:
- When you can, choose products that don’t come in plastic packaging. Opt for paper, cardboard, or glass instead.
- Some stores sell things like nuts, rice, etc in bulk bins. If you have the option, choose these instead. Put them in your own cotton food storage bags.
- Skip the bagged fruits & veggies when you can. Pick them from the bulk bins instead. Put them into your own, reusable produce bags. Some of these bags even include tags with the bag’s tare weight … so you only pay for the weight of your food! (Of course, this only works in stores that can subtract the bag’s weight …)
- Even better, shop farmer’s markets for fresh fruits & veggies. Remember to bring your reusable bags!
In restaurants:
- Refuse a straw. If you really want to use a straw, bring your own. Yes, you can buy reusable straws!
- At fast-food or other casual eateries, bring your own utensils. You can get bamboo travel utensils, often with their own carrying case. Or find out which places use compostable utensils and support them. Assuming those utensils actually get composted …
- Bring your own container for left-overs.
In the kitchen:
Kitchens are a “treasure trove” of plastics! You probably have plastic storage containers, plastic wrap, and plastic bags. At the very least.
So use up what you’ve got. You might as well, since you’ve already got it! But don’t buy more. Look for alternatives instead.
Here are some easy ones:
- Store leftovers in bowls, casserole dishes or even baking pans. If your dish has a lid, even better! If not, cover with a plate. Or buy reusable fabric covers!
- Use Pyrex (or similar) glass containers in the freezer.
- Freeze meats wrapped with wax paper and then aluminum foil.
- Stop buying bottled water.
Here’s a handy guide for how to store fruits & veggies (PDF) without plastic.
Also check out the What You Can Do section of the Plastic Free July website. It offers ideas for plastic-free cooking, cleaning, pets, gardening, and more. There’s tons of ideas for both individuals and businesses.
Not sure where to start? Start with this handy “Challenge Choices” checklist with more action ideas. It also shows you what impact your choice will have on the environment (oceans, landfill and/or global warming).
As you get more used to living without single-use plastics, consider eliminating as much other plastic as possible. All those reusable plastic items will eventually end up in landfills, too. So before buying something plastic, see it you can get a similar item in a different material.
Obviously, it’s not always possible to avoid plastic. But check second-hand shops, Craigslist, and community swap sites to see if you can get used items that meet your needs.
Finally, check out the website My Plastic-Free Life. It offers a ton of information and resources to cut plastic out of your life.
So, how will you be reducing your plastic use this July? Will you continue to try to live plastic free for the rest of the year?
[…] Plastic Free July: For the entire month of July we avoid single-use plastics as much as possible. Entirely if possible! (This year that may not be possible in places that have temporarily banned reusable bags in stores due to the pandemic). Then, once we’ve seen how easy it is to avoid these plastics—and how much better reusable options work—we can continue this month for the whole year. And even our whole lives! […]
[…] Plastic Free July: For the month of July we think carefully about the plastic items we use. And if they’re single-use plastic items we put them back & find something reusable to take their place. And when you realize just how easy that really is you’ll keep finding replacements for your single-use plastics all year long! We hope. […]