There has been enough news coverage and publicity to make you aware that it's Plastic Free July. What you may or may not know is How, Where and Why it came about.
Plastic Free July was started by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (the founder of the Plastic Free Foundation) and a small team in local government in Perth, Western Australia in 2011, and has become a global environmental movement. Millions of people across the globe take part every year, pledging to reduce plastic pollution for much longer than the month of July.
After six years Plastic Free July became the Plastic Free Foundation Ltd as an independent, not-for-profit charity in 2017 to provide better support and grow the campaign.
Plastic Free July raises awareness about environmental issues in over 100 million people in 190 countries. Globally, participants reduced 2.1 million tonnes of recyclables and waste annually, preventing landfills and litter from accumulating:
· They reduced their household waste and recycling by 15kg per person per year
· globally they reduced 2.1 billion tonnes of waste and recycling including 300 million kgs of plastic consumption
· 86% people made changes that have become habits
· after 11 years Plastic Free July has been able to reduce demand for bottled water, fruit and vegetable packaging and plastic straws.
Plastic Free July is now recognised as an annual event where people, businesses and governments come together to take action to reduce plastic waste, driving social change.
Any item or piece of packaging that is used just once is single-use. By reducing, refusing, repairing, reusing and redesigning, waste can be avoided in the first place.
When considering alternative packaging materials, it is important to consider the impacts if they end up as litter as well as what happens in waste processing facilities.
When looking at alternative packaging to single-use plastics it is important to consider the materials used, where they end up and how and what they break down into:
· Bioplastics are produced from organic matter, such as sugar cane pulp or cornstarch.
· Biodegradable items will break down through bacteria and fungi.
· Compostable items are capable of being broken down in soil under specific conditions and time periods.
· Degradable or oxodegradable items fragment partially or completely into smaller pieces of plastic.
Choose to refuse and easy swaps!
Many organisations have joined the battle against plastic waste, here are only a few:
Sea Shepherd is organisation dedicated to conserving and protecting the world’s oceans.
It was founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson in Vancouver, Canada.
In 2007 Australia joined the movement to support Sea Shepherd’s international ocean conservation work as well as to protect our own oceans and coastlines.
4Ocean began in 2015. While holidaying in Bali, Alex Schulze and Andrew Cooper saw the extent of the ocean plastic crisis and its impact not only on marine life, but also on coastal communities that depend on the ocean.
From the materials collected from the ocean they repurposed them into products that promote ocean plastic awareness and they inspire people to stop using single-use plastic.
Seabin Project was developed by Australian boat builders Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski in 2015 with the idea that there are garbage bins on land, why not have them floating on the water.
They built a sustainable garbage bin that could collect waterborne plastics and garbage 24 hours a day. They collect some of the smallest micro plastics, micro fibres, surface oils and detergent.
Over the last decade there has been a growing awareness of the extent of plastic pollution and the devastating impacts on animals and the environment. And there is mounting evidence about the risks to human health from plastic: from chemical additives to the ingestion of tiny microplastics.
Have you accepted the challenge this Plastic Free July? Is it possible for you to make small changes throughout the year that will benefit you as well as our planet?
There is no Planet B!
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