Go plastic-free, it’s working

Do you sometimes wonder if your efforts to reduce pollution, plastic or food waste have too little impact? This month is Plastic-Free July, and we are being asked to once again look at how we can make changes.

So it is encouraging that CSIRO researchers have found that plastic pollution littering Australian coastlines has dropped by more than a third over the last decade.

What’s more, the Plastic Free Foundation has published its results for Plastic Free July 2024, including:
- Globally, at least 174 million people took part in the challenge;
- Participants took 23 per cent more action to reduce plastic waste; and
- Participants reduced their household waste by 16 kgs per person per year (3.8 per cent less waste)

On a wider environmental level, Plastic Free July 2024 participants reduced:
- non-recoverable (landfill) waste by 1,700 million kgs
- recyclable waste by 1,200 million kgs, including
- plastic consumption by 390 million kgs.

Will your household participate this year, choosing to refuse single-use plastics? Saying NO to the top four culprits – plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups, and plastic straws - is actually easier than we think, and it could be the beginning of some new habits that could be beneficial.

Here are some ways your family might go without buying or using single-use plastic this month.
In the bathroom:
- Swap liquid soap for bar soaps;
- Keep existing plastic bottles and tubs to be refilled, reused or recycled when empty;
- Consider replacing old toothbrushes with bamboo ones, or find one with a replaceable head;
- Switching to a safety razor with replaceable stainless steel blades will eliminate plastic and allow you to recycle the blades;
- Want to make your own soaps or shampoo? It’s surprisingly simple, and very satisfying. The internet is filled with online tutorials, including on the Plastic Free July YouTube channel.

In the kitchen:
- Re-use plastic bags, have paper bags ready, or just avoid bagging fruit and vegetables when at the greengrocer;
- Avoid pre-packaged fresh goods such as fruit, vegetables and meat;
- Always have spare re-useable shopping bags handy;
- Take a ‘keep cup’ when ordering takeaway coffee;
- Refuse plastic drinking straws when buying drinks;
- Carry reusable water bottles instead of buying plastic ones;
- Buy grains, pasta, pulses, cereals and flour in bulk, then transfer to glass jars.

One incredibly easy – and fun – way to avoid plastics during July and forever, is to shop at your local farmers’ market. You might find you can do much of your shopping there, and make some new friends within your community at the same time.