Welcome to Plastic Free July.

Now is great time for you and your family to join the challenge and take a few easy steps to live a life with less plastic.

Take the Plastic Free July challenge! What single-use plastics can you commit to reducing over July and beyond?

To help on your plastic free journey, we've put together some tips and photos below.

How can we reduce disposable products and instead use reusable materials, to help save our planet:

• Say no to plastic packaging
• Take reusable shopping bags
• Use reusable cups for coffee and tea
• Say no to plastic straws

Commit to taking the Plastic Free July challenge and help protect our waterways and oceans, reduce landfill, and help prevent climate change.

Even during the global pandemic, Plastic Free July participants have shown that people can still take action to reduce plastic waste and together make a difference for our planet.

As many people spend more time at home and restrictions apply, there have been changes in the way we purchase and use goods and food. Whilst taking care of human health is critical, at the same there is an opportunity to reduce plastic waste, increase reuse and recycling efforts, and use valuable resources such as food more efficiently.

For more information about:

• Coronavirus transmission and food and packaging
• Coronavirus and reusables
• Reusable PPE and gloves

All businesses should investigate and make their own decisions in relation to the public health order, relating to single use plastics and being COVID safe.

click here

Taking the plunge to ditching single-use plastics can sometimes be daunting. We live in a world full of plastic and going plastic-free may seem inconvenient and impossible. The best way is to start small and take your time to build good habits one step at a time.

Jars and hard reusable plastic containers are a great way to reduce single-use plastic in your pantry. Many bulk food stores will let you take these containers into the shops to be refilled.

Refillable bottles are a great way to store liquid products, such as detergents, liquid soaps, and bathroom products such as shampoo and conditioner.

Sanitary products like tampons and pads are usually made and packaged with soft plastics. You can choose reusable pads, menstrual cups, or period underwear in place of disposable options, which will also save you money.

Ditch the disposable shavers and opt for more stainless steel safety razors with replaceable blades. Disposable shavers are hard to recycle because of their steel and plastic components.

From lotions to scrubs and deodorants, there are many products you can easily make yourself at home. Here are some of our favourite easy skincare recipes we have tried in past workshops.

Here are some easy ways to get started on your journey to plastic-free:

When you are ready to take on more plastic-free habits, here a few more areas you can tackle single-use plastics:

BYO produce bags is a very easy way to shop plastic free. These light weight bags don't add to the weight of your produce on the check out scales and are small and convenient to carry to and from the shops.

Shopping at bulk food stores or the weigh and pay sections of the supermarket will also help reduce your single-use plastic waste.

There are many great reusable products on the market to help take food from home to the work space.

Metal lunch containers, reusable coffee cups, and refillable drink bottles are a few easy ways to reduce single use plastic when you are away from home.

Conducting a waste audit is the best way for you to find out what types of waste your businesses is generating. This will often help you uncover potential savings from the generated recyclable waste or avoidance of landfill waste, just by replacing your disposables with reusables or more earth friendly options.

To help you build a company culture of sustainability, organise a training session to educate your team on the importance of reducing waste and good recycling habits. Another great way to increase engagement is to get your team involved in a sustainability project. This could be a composting, a community clean up or something as simple as a recycling program.

The best way to celebrate your commitment is to make it public. Let you customers and community know what you are doing to reduce single use plastics and inspire others to jump onboard! You can display signs to share your plastic-free message or go a step further by letting your community know why you have taken the step and what they can do to help.

Want to know how and what more you can do to reduce single use plastics? Check out some of these handy hints shared by our local communtiy members!