What is the Plastic Free July Challenge?
The challenge is to give up at least one single-use plastic item during the month of July. Some participants focus on trading out plastic in their home, school or workplace and others sign up to live completely plastic-free during July. By joining the challenge you’ll receive emails for inspiration, about people all over the world who are participating, as well as data on what kind of impact a global effort to reduce plastic can have over 31 days.
Plastic Free July was started in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz (the founder of the Plastic Free Foundation) and a small team in local government in Western Australia. The project is now celebrating ten years as a global event with millions of people participating, many committed to reduce plastic pollution all year long. In July 2020 alone, an estimated 326 million people from 177 countries took part in the challenge. The Plastic Free Foundation produced the video below to explain how to participate, and you can sign up to join the challenge here: https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/take-the-challenge/
There are Countless Ways to Ditch Plastic
My first efforts to ditch plastic were motivated by health concerns more than pollution concerns. I recycled out my plastic storage containers, as well as BPA lined pots and pans, from my kitchen and started choosing glass and non-BPA lined food packaging at the grocery store. Paying attention to the plastic in my kitchen made me realize how much plastic was in the rest of my house, and how easy it is to swap it out for less toxic, less polluting alternatives.
Maybe you’ll want to try toothpaste tabs instead of another plastic tube of toothpaste. Or carry reusable straws with you if you eat out a lot or travel. Whatever plastic, especially single-use plastic, you stop using makes a difference. And the more you swap out plastic the more you’ll probably realize that it’s nice living without plastic – glass, wood, metal, even silicone, feels better, lasts longer and is so much better for our bodies and the planet. Below are a few blogs I’ve written over the last year on living with less plastic for more ideas that you can integrate easily into your every day:
Replacing Single-Use Plastic in your Home
Bar Shampoo and Saying No to Plastic
An Eco-Friendly Substitute for Disposable Cleaning Wipes
My July Challenge Choice
DIY Deodorant??
Yep. I’ve replaced my single-use containers of dish-soap, hand-soap, laundry soap and all-purpose cleaner with concentrates and biodegradable refill bags, used in reusable glass bottles. I use bar shampoo. I’ve replaced zip-lock bags with wax wrappers. We have metal and silicone straws for when we travel. We bring reusable bags to the grocery store. I’ve found a dental floss with refills for a tiny glass dispenser. I feel like I’m ready for a raise-the-bar replacement hack, and making my own deodorant meets the challenge. If I like it our household could save a landfill a half dozen plastic containers each year! In the spirit of No Plastic July Zero Waste Cartel published a recipe for DIY deodorant that looks very doable:
2 1/2 tbsp Shea butter
2 1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 cup arrowroot powder
1 1/2 tbsp baking soda
2-5 drops of an essential oil
Optional: A sprinkle of grated beeswax if you like a thicker paste
Any clean container – like an up-cycled jar or metal tin
Directions:
- Melt the shea butter and coconut oil in a glass bowl over boiling water
- Add the remaining ingredients (leave the essential oils until the last minute)
- Mix until smooth
- Pour into your container
- To use, with your fingers just apply a little to your underarm
Stay tuned for an upcoming blog on how mine turns out!
Shopping Plastic-Free
Plastic free is trending, and a business model that’s growing quickly is the refillery. Refill boutiques and bulk grocery shopping that eliminates single-use packaging are for now mostly in large cities – an Internet search will bring up addresses in places like London, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Cincinnati.
I’m optimistic that over the next decade we will all have a refill boutique to shop in and I look forward to filling up dispensers with things like face cream, body lotion or sunscreen. But, in the meantime there are several good online sites that offer household alternatives to single-use plastic and disposable packaging. It’s in no way a complete list, but here are sites I visit regularly: GroveCollaborative, Zero Waste Cartel, Mighty Nest and Etee .
Thank you for helping to clean up our planet!
Taking the Plastic Free July Challenge is one way to jump start awareness on how to say no to plastic, or remind ourselves to keep looking for ways to go plastic-free. Every time we choose not to use plastic we’re choosing not to pollute our planet – that’s major and so important, so thank you!
