Plastic Free July is a global initiative that aims to raise awareness of the problems with single-use plastic. Join the challenge this July to go plastic free! Claire Sumners, founder of Plastic Free Seaford shares her top tips and why we should all go plastic free this month and beyond!
Claire Sumners, founder of Plastic Free Seaford.
Facts about single-use plastic
- Single-use plastics break up, not break down, thus becoming permanent pollution.
- They are mostly down-cycled, made into low grade product for just one more use.
- Single-use plastics ‘escape’ from bins, trucks, events etc. to become ‘accidental litter’.
- They end up in waterways and the ocean – where scientists predict by 2050 there will be more plastic, by weight, than fish.
- They transfer to the food chain.
Solutions to the plastic problem
More of us are already refusing plastic shopping bags, avoiding pre-packed fruit and vegetables, picking up other people’s litter, and avoiding buying bottled water but you can do so much more. By choosing to be part of the solution, you can:
- Always choose alternatives to products in plastic packaging.
- Reuse where possible (remember your reusable shopping bags).
- Refuse plastics that easily escape as litter, such as straws, takeaway cups, utensils, balloons, crisps. Bring your own re-usable bottle to get your morning coffee, for example.
- Refill when possible, like washing-up liquid and soap available locally from refill stores. You can find details of East Sussex refill stores at the bottom of this article.
- Recycle the products you can’t avoid buying. Check you are recycling all of the plastic in your home.
- Check out these easy swaps you can make at home to go plastic free!
Claire Sumners at a beach clean.
Not sure you can make a difference by passing on that single-use fruit and veg carrier bag? Each time you bring home single-use disposable plastic keep it instead of throwing it away and see how quickly it mounts up.
Try these solutions for a day, a week or the whole month and you’ll be staggered by how much plastic you were consuming before. It has even been proven that micro plastics are in supermarket bought fruit and vegetables as well as fish, so we are literally consuming plastic.
Find out more and join the challenge at Plastic Free July.
Why not start your challenge by making a reusable bag?
And for hints and tips on how to live plastic free, visit my platforms:
- Facebook: ZeroWasteMaman
- Instagram: Zero_Waste_Maman
- Website: www.zerowastemaman.co.uk
Article by Claire Sumners.
