5 Tips for Your 1st Plastic-Free July
Last Updated June 29, 2024
We’re nearing the end of June, which means Plastic-Free July is almost here! If you don’t already know, Plastic-Free July is a global challenge where people refuse single-use plastics for the whole month of July. Last year, an estimated 140 million people participated in the challenge!
If refusing single-use plastics for a whole month seems daunting, don’t worry, here are some tips to get you started on the right foot.
Look at Your Trash
Whether you’re just starting you’re plastic-free journey or you’re nearly zero waste, doing a quick trash audit is always informative. I do a monthly trash audit to see what I can learn and where I can improve. So, take a peek at your garbage can and see what you’re throwing away.
If you garbage is full of take out containers, consider sitting down and eating at the actual restaurant. If it’s full of plastic bubbles from online orders, consider searching for your items at local shops or at your local big box store.
Whatever you find in your garbage think about ways around those items. If you need help with specific items, send me a message on Instagram!
Think About Your Routine
Along the same lines as a trash audit, walk through your day and see what single-use plastics you come in contact with. It’s very likely you end up throwing away plastic items while on the go, so make sure you take those into consideration.
Do you stop at Starbucks every morning on the way to work? Those cups probably get thrown away at work and wouldn’t show up in your garbage can at home. By mentally walking through your day, you’ll catch some of the plastics that you normally throw away while out and about.
Put Reusables in Place
Speaking of coffee cups, are you terrible at remembering to bring your reusable one to the coffee shop? Well, consider putting an extra reusable coffee mug or cup in your car. If you walk into the coffee shop without it, commit to walking back to your car! I know that sounds terribly inconvenient but believe me, that memory of the inconvenience will help you remember every time afterwards.
If you don’t want to banish your favorite reusable coffee cup to the car, then a mason jar can also work in a pinch. Just make sure you have a cloth napkin or something to insulate the heat from your hands.
Another single-use plastic you probably come in contact with frequently are disposable utensils. To help you refuse these during Plastic-Free July, keep a pair of utensils in your car or in your bag.
I have some utensil rolls in the backpack we carry with us when we go places with our kids. It’s just a set of utensils with a cloth napkin wrapped around it and secured with a hair tie.
As you go through your day in your mind, figure out where the common disposables are and see if you can put reusables in places as a back-up.
Shop Smarter & Healthier
Food packaging is one of the most common forms of single-use plastics. Eight of the top ten items picked up on the beaches are related to food packaging. Part of that is take-out and the other part is what you purchase at the grocery store.
When checking out at the grocery store, is your cart loaded with plastic or does it look like a garden? No judgement either way, but if it’s loaded with plastic, you’ll have a tough time with Plastic-Free July. The best way to avoid food plastic food packaging at the grocery store is to shop around the perimeter. This totally makes sense because the perimeter is where stores usually have refrigeration. And if you have something that’s wrapped in plastic, it’s usually shelf-stable and in the middle.
For cheese and deli meats, see if your deli uses actual paper instead of butcher paper which is generally lined with plastic. My deli uses actual paper but I bring my beeswax wraps for the deli clerk to wrap the cheese in!
Instead of buying prepared and pre-cut fruits and vegetables, choose the whole fruit or vegetable. It’s cheaper, comes without plastic, and you can sharpen your knife skills (pun intended :P). Instead of a big plastic bag or box of baby spinach, check out your farmer’s market and see if one of the farmer’s sells baby greens. I love that I can get hoards of berries at the farmer’s market without those plastic clamshells!
Finally, you’ll probably notice a lot of fruits and vegetables in my farmer’s market haul. When you’re trying to avoid plastics, you end up skipping the sweets, the snacks, the chips, and really most of the stuff you’re supposed to limit in your diet anyways. So, by eating healthier you’ll make it easier to conquer Plastic-Free July and I’m sure you’ll feel healthier and happier too!
Recruit a Friend
Just like a weight loss or exercise challenge, it’s more fun with a friend! Recruiting a friend or family member to join you will help spur ideas to help you stick to the challenge and will help you stay honest! Plus, it will be easier to go out to eat if your friend is taking the Plastic-Free July Challenge too!
Bonus Tip: Snap a Photo
If during the challenge you find that you can’t refuse a certain single-use plastic, then snap a photo of it. At the end of the month, take a look at the photos and see what you can learn. Can you stop buying that item or find a reusable replacement. Just like a trash audit, the first step to solving a problem is identifying it!
What do you think? Can you use some or all of these during Plastic-Free July?
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