Ditch Plastic in July!

Everywhere you look there is the use of plastics in our modern society. Plastic Free July was born in 2011 from a simple idea of refusing single-use plastics during July and reducing the impact of plastic pollution.

Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.

Taking part is an easy way to learn the skills to reduce and avoid the use of plastic by refusing to use it, rethinking how plastic is used, and reducing what we consume. Make an effort this July to reduce or eliminate your plastic use.

You can go it alone at home or join the challenge at www.plasticfreejuly.org to receive tips and tricks in weekly emails while being part of this global movement.

Want to get plastic free?

• Drink tap water or buy glass bottles
• Avoid plastic bags
• Get rid of single doses and avoid buying single-dose packaging for your personal care
• Travel with your reusable water bottle
• Get yourself a travel kit and take cutlery, glasses, and dishes out with you
• Pick up alternative straws – use those made of glass, paper, bamboo or steel
• Buy cardboard or glass products
• Try getting creative with recycling. If you have disposable bottles to throw away, remember that you can always reuse them. You just need a little bit of imagination!

Did you know –

1. Only 9% of all plastic produced is recycled
2. A whopping 2 million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide
3. Single-use plastics are illegal in some parts of the world (see attached info on Queensland’s banned items)
4. Every minute of every day a truckload of plastic is dumped into the ocean
5. 73% of beach litter worldwide is plastic
6. One million plastic bottles are bought every minute
7. There could be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050
8. Up to 95% of plastic polluting oceans is carried by 10 rivers
9. 99% of seabirds will be eating plastic by 2050
10. The average person eats 70,000 microplastics each year
11. The average time that a plastic bag is used is just 12 minutes
12. Over the past 50 years, world plastic production has doubled

(Source: givingcompass.org)

Queensland’s ban on the supply of single-use plastic items started on 1 September 2021. Banned single-use items are: single-use plastic straws; plastic stirrers and swizzle sticks; plastic plates; unenclosed plastic bowls; plastic forks, spoons, knives, splayds, chopsticks, and food picks; expanded polystyrene (EPS) takeaway food containers; expanded polystyrene (EPS) cups.

Community, industry and business consultation has shown strong support to expand the ban of single-use plastics. As a result, the following single-use plastic items will be banned from 1 September 2023: cotton buds with plastic stems; expanded polystyrene loose packaging; plastic microbeads in rinseable personal care and cleaning products; heavyweight plastic shopping bags; mass release of lighter than air balloons.

Think about it. Why would you make something that you’re going to use for a few minutes out of a material that’s basically going to last forever, and you’re just going to throw it away. What’s up with that?

Jeb Berrier, Bag It movie