Author: Carrie Mayo
Over the course of a single century, plastic has covered the globe. Plastic is on every shelf and in nearly every room of every home. It litters our streets; pollutes the air and the sea. Frankly, and most critically, it’s wreaking havoc on our entire planet.
Plastic produces massive amounts of pollution. It causes animals to go extinct. It poses serious health risks. 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year, and over 90% of plastics are not recycled. It’s more than just a problem of ill-management: the very premise of everyday, single-use plastic is flawed. As actor and environmental activist Jeb Berrier says, “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[?]” It’s time we all learned how to work together to be part of the solution instead of the problem.
Do you think it’s impossible to live life without plastic? Are you wondering how it’s done or maybe just how to get started?
Plastic Free July is a movement of people across the world coming together to educate themselves on the effects of single-use plastics and how to live without them. It all begins with mindfulness, and from there, with our resources and your determination, we can work together to make our communities cleaner and safer.
Living plastic-free is all about reducing and reusing. Below is a list of essential guidelines for living plastic-free. Given how omnipresent plastic is in our daily lives, it can be hard to know where to start. By taking the Plastic Free July challenge, you’ll join thousands of people and you can even choose to receive weekly newsletter with tips, tricks, and motivational facts and stories to keep you inspired.
Here are three foundational steps to living plastic-free:
- Pay attention to what you are buying.
- Find plastic-free alternatives.
- If you can’t find alternatives, try going without. You may find you didn’t need it in the first place!
Treat these steps as your personal shopping mantra. And by taking the challenge and exploring educational resources, such as this list of 100 tips for plastic-free living, you’ll have all the help you need to navigate all the finer details of living plastic-free.
Join a supportive community of plastic free-living, and invite your family, friends, and colleagues to be a part of this mission to solve one of the globe’s biggest threats, one day at a time, together.
