Plastic Free July.
Tips on Reducing the Single-use Plastic this Plastic Free July.
As we enter the 10th year of Plastic Free July, we look at some simple swaps you can do at home so you can be part of the global movement that helps millions of people be the solution to plastic pollution.
Single-use plastics such as food packaging and plastic bags account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Most of these have a lifespan of a few hours, yet they live on in the environment for hundreds of years. Here’s how you can stop using single-use plastic this Plastic Free July.
In 2019 the 10 biggest UK supermarkets put 896,853 tonnes of plastic packaging on the market. The easiest way to avoid single-use plastic is to shop in local shops, heading to the bakery, greengrocers or butchers instead of the supermarket as most tend to offer paper bags, or you can take your own reusable containers. Refill shops are also on the rise, and they are a great way to cut out single-use plastics, for everything from pasta to dried fruit, rice, and spices, many also offer refills on beauty and household cleaning products too.
As you head out to get some lunch, try and avoid the shops, could you go to a sandwich shop and get one freshly made instead? Or you could eat in somewhere, or save some money and single-use plastic by bringing in your own lunch.
NONA (which stands for No Oceans, No Air) recycle retired fishing gear into durable, long-lasting clothes pegs, so as well as reusing plastic, you’re also intercepting plastic heading for the ocean and reducing your carbon footprint. NONA’s packaging is also 100% plastic free, even down to the packing tape. During Plastic Free July, you can get 10% off NONA clothes pegs using the discount code PFJ21 on the company’s website.
Serious Tissues, the UK's only carbon neutral toilet paper, is made from 100% recycled paper, with no individual wrapping, no dyes, perfumes, no unnecessary chemicals, and no plastic.
Peace with the Wild offers a range of eco toothbrushes that are made with eco friendly, natural, sustainable, recyclable, compostable, biodegradable bamboo and eco-friendly beechwood. They are all supplied in plastic free, recyclable packaging that is zero waste and helps reduce plastic pollution.
Ethnique shampoo bars have come a long way, they offer a natural alternative to bottled shampoo which is usually full of chemicals, and one bar is usually the equivalent of three plastic bottles of liquid shampoo.
Eco-craft have an eco-friendly alternative to plastic parcel tape which is made from renewable kraft paper not from plastic.
Beeswax Wraps Co. offer the plastic-free alternative to clingfilm, the wraps are made using British Beeswax, they’re reusable, washable, and they even offer vegan-friendly wraps too.
There are plenty of products that now have plastic-free alternatives, or are made from 100% recycled plastic, here are some of our favourites: