Every year the global Plastic Free July movement gains more and more momentum. People from all around the world are committing to actively reducing their consumption of single use plastics and products.
To take the pledge- means to challenge yourself to give up single use plastics for a day, a week, a month or even an entire year! We're of course here to help you reduce your plastic waste a little by little, and it is not as hard you may think!
Here are four of our favourite and easiest plastic free swaps to get you started today!
Avoid bottled water.
One might think that this is a difficult one to avoid. Frankly like everything in life once you start doing it, it becomes a habit. Then as you start to realize how many plastic bottles you’ve managed to avoid, ultimately it becomes a personal badge of honour. Next time you head to the taps to replenish, just think of how many single use bottles you can one save in a month or year- just from one reusable water bottle! Multiply that number by like let’s say a billion gagillion people around the world and that is a lot less plastics going in the landfills.
Carry reusable shopping and produce bags.
There are no excuses. Everyone knows this one. It is time we all remember our reusable grocery bags. There we said it. Yes! We’ve been there ourselves, but ultimately made the conscious decision to never use another plastic bag again. Now we do whatever it takes to never “forget” them at home or the car. Keep reusable bags in your car, bike, purse. It only takes forgetting just a few times before you get hang of it and it becomes a habit. Now when you come across pictures of dead wildlife with plastic bags in their stomachs you can be super proud of that you are no longer personally contributing to their needless deaths.
Swap out bottles for bars or refill the ones you have.
You won’t believe how awesome shampoo and conditioners bars are until you try them! Swiftly becoming more popular than liquid versions for a variety of reasons, people everywhere are ditching and switching to bar soaps for all purposes! From personal bath and body care to even sustainable and natural dish soap bars. Save on packaging, plastic and money too!
Super economical- one shampoo bar can last up to 50 washes! 150g bar of solid dish soap will last an average of 3 plus months and replace 3 plastic bottles!
Don't like bar soaps? Refilling liquid soap is another great solution solving the problem of disposable bathroom and cleaning products. We encourage to refill what bottles you might already have. Plastic isn’t so bad if you use and reuse it for the full use of its lifetime and then find a lovely neighbourhood recycling centre for a second chance at life.
Compost Food Waste
Don’t you hate throwing away food? Especially when you truly meant to make that healthy salad before the lettuce went.
Much of our food that gets thrown away can be composted. Composting is like magic for home gardens too! It encourages the production of beneficial bacteria and fungi that break down organic matter to create humus (dirt), a rich nutrient-filled material. Composting also greatly reduces methane emissions from landfills and can lower your overall carbon footprint.
Paper, yard clippings and just about any food scraps, including meat and fish, can all be composted. With local curb-side organics pick up, diverting organic waste is even easier. So why not start today?