Plastic-Free July Challenge

Plastic Free July!! Have you heard about this? I had not until our public library shared the info in an email:

Plastic pollution is a major problem in the Great Lakes: More than 22 million pounds of plastic end up in the Lakes every year. And plastic, unlike naturally occurring materials like wood or stone, never really goes away. Instead, it just breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces — which is what we call “microplastics.” These microscopic pieces of plastic have been found in our drinking water, fish, beer – and even in people’s blood.

Plastic-Free Not Just near The Great Lakes

Fortunately, there are things we can all do to make a difference. This July, people all over the world are taking action to reduce plastic pollution for Plastic-Free July, a global initiative founded by the Plastic-Free Foundation.

Please join us in making a change during Plastic-Free July. Here are a few ways you can help the Great Lakes this month:

  1. Hold your community accountable: Ask your representatives and your favorite businesses what they’re doing to reduce plastic pollution.
  2. Celebrate a plastic-free 4th of July: Check out these 9 tips to keep plastic out of the Great Lakes during your holiday weekend.
  3. Commit to a new habit: Whether you say goodbye to plastic cutlery or take action in your own community, you can help reduce plastic pollution all year round. 
  4. Help with clean-up: Beach and neighborhood cleanups are a fun, free, easy way to give back to your community and keep plastic pollution out of our Great Lakes. Check out Adopt-a-Beach to find a community beach clean-up near you!
  5. Reduce and reuse before recycling. Consuming less and reusing more is better for the environment than any amount of recycling.
  6. Make it a movement: Have an even bigger impact by spreading the word. Tell your friends and family what you’re doing for Plastic Free July, and invite them to join in.

Small Plastic-Free Actions

Small actions make big waves! Your efforts this Plastic-Free July add one more voice to the collective call to address plastic pollution across our country and globe.

Please share this information with your family and friends. One small change – JUST ONE – does make a difference when added together. One + one + one + one + one . . . equals a big difference. What one single thing can you commit to?!

  • Takeaway coffee container – bring your own
  • Water bottle – are you still using these?
  • Toothbrush – is your’s plastic?
  • Sandwich bags – is there a better way to wrap your sandwich
  • Grocery bags – you know you have TONS of fabric totes to use
  • Straws – can you skip this or ask for the paper version

It’s almost overwhelming the number of plastics surrounding us. There was a day plastic didn’t exist; we can overcome this pervasive issue together, one alternate choice at a time. I hope you join us!

♥ ♥ ♥

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5 Responses

  1. Preeti says:

    Thank you for posting this, Roseanne. On a daily basis, I am fighting with Paul as he will throw away a takeout food container in the trash/recycling and I will take it out, wash it and reuse it. It is not food grade, or it is single use only, he will argue. No worries, I am storing fabric strips in it, I will say. Every bit helps. Right? I don’t drink coffee and rarely get a beverage when I am out. I drink water from the tap (not directly, I use a tumbler). I am sure my electric toothbrush is some kind of plastic. But I have not seen any other kind. I change heads rather than the whole toothbrush, if that helps. I don’t use sandwich bags, but glass containers with lids. Grocery bags – I can do better here. Sometimes I carry my own but must do it more often. I don’t use straws. I promise I am trying and will do more.

  2. Love this post Roseanne. I’ll add more to Sandra’s list of good things happening here in Canada; laundry soap in a tissue form, and bulk stores that you can take your glass containers in to to get your liquids supplies (oil, laundry soap, shampoos, etc.). If each of us does what we can it can only help our planet. Perhaps we should do a quilt challenge once a year the way our grandmother’s did; recycling our old/worn clothing 😉

  3. Kathleen McCormick says:

    This is a great thing and many things I already do…. The non plastic toothbrush is interesting…I only use an electric….but maybe that counts. Need to figure this one out. II need to invest in some alternative freezer containers, as I do like to use ziploc bags there…another thing. to work on. Thanks for urging me on to some new practices.

  4. Gail Sheppard says:

    Great post, Roseanne!
    We can no longer get a plastic bag at any store and have to pay 25 cents for a paper one! I always carry extra reusable fabric bags in my purse so I don’t have to pay for paper. Some producers in BC are also starting to not wrap cucumbers!
    Lots of small steps will help!

  5. Of course you know I would LOVE this post and wholly support plastic free July in every country. Once we do it for a month those habits can carry over into the rest of our lives, right? I have bought beeswax wraps which work just fantastically to put over a cake, or keep produce in in the fridge, and they rinse easily for reusing many many times. Living literally a two minutes’ walk from one of the five Great Lakes, it is near and dear to my heart, and I have picked up my fair share of plastic on the beaches where I walk. Plastic is the bane of our planet’s existence. Thank you for spreading this easy-to-do PSA! Oh, and Canada has begun rolling out the ban on single use plastic. Rare is the store where you can still get a plastic bag and straws are all paper now. One of the big producers of cucumbers in my town has stopped wrapping them in plastic too and it is JAW-DROPPING how much plastic that one company has now stopped from going into a landfill. One + one + one… so true.

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