It’s that time of year again – Plastic Free July – where it is a good time to have a look at what we have in our house and what we’re doing with our lifestyle and how we can implement changes that help the environment and reduce waste.
I want to preface this post to mention – I do not claim to be perfect, but I do feel like I want to make a difference in making some easy swaps around the house and how we just live in general, to make it more environmentally friendly and reduce our plastic waste.
I think being zero waste is very difficult to achieve and if you are living a sort of “normal” lifestyle is very very hard to do, so I thought it would be nice to share some really easy, simple plastic free swaps that you can get started with.
Simple swaps around the house can make such a difference – even just remembering to recycle boxes or reusing packaging, using reusable bottles and coffee mugs – every little helps.
pollution & plastic statistics
Let’s take a look at some statistics and what plastic actually does to the planet and how it impacts marine life and the Earth in general, just so you can get an idea of how much plastic waste there is on this planet and how much of a problem it is.
- In 2024, 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be generated.
- Nearly 70 million tonnes of this plastic will end up in nature
- Since 2021, plastic waste has increased by 7.11%
- Ocean pollution impacts over 817 animal species globally, a number that has risen by 23% in the past five years
- Marine plastic pollution affects all marine turtles, 59% of whale species, 36% of seal species, and 40% of seabird species
- By 2050, it is projected that plastic will likely outweigh all fish in the sea – THIS IS THE MOST UPSETTING OF ALL!
Source: statistics and data were derived from Our World in Data, Statista, OECD
plastic free swaps
Here are some easy swaps to help you reduce plastic use this Plastic Free July:
- Reusable Shopping Bags: Use cloth or other reusable bags instead of plastic ones
- Water Bottles: Switch to a reusable stainless steel or glass water bottle
- Food Storage: Replace plastic wrap with beeswax wraps and plastic containers with glass or stainless steel ones
- Cutlery and Straws: Carry a set of bamboo or metal cutlery and a reusable straw
- Produce Bags: Use mesh or cloth bags for fruits and vegetables instead of plastic ones
- Cleaning Supplies: Choose cleaning products that come in cardboard packaging or refillable containers
- Toothbrushes: Opt for bamboo toothbrushes instead of plastic ones
- Shampoo and Soap Bars: Use solid bars of shampoo and soap instead of bottled products
- Laundry Detergent: Use powder detergent in cardboard boxes or detergent sheets instead of liquid detergent in plastic bottles
- Coffee Cups: Bring a reusable coffee cup for takeaways
These swaps can significantly reduce your plastic footprint with minimal effort.
plastic free shopping
Here are some UK based websites where you can shop for plastic free products:
- Plastic Freedom – plasticfreedom.co.uk
- Ethical Superstore – ethicalsuperstore.com
- Natural Collection – naturalcollection.com
- The Plastic Free Shop – theplasticfreeshop.co.uk
- EarthBits – earthbits.com
- Boobalou – boobalou.co.uk
- Peace With The Wild – peacewiththewild.co.uk
- &Keep – andkeep.com
- Wearth London – wearthlondon.com
- Zero Waste Club – zerowasteclub.com
Do not ever feel bad if you are not using every single item waste free because as I mentioned above, it is very difficult to do that and not many people can actually say they are FULL 100% zero waste, so I think starting with these little simple changes and swaps is a really great step to start your environmentally friendly journey.
What swaps have you made this July and will you continue doing this for the rest of the year? I think these monthly yearly sort of days are really good way to sort jumpstart you into trying these sort of changes and I feel like a lot of people start it and then they do continue You know with the process and it’s can only get better.
let me know in the comments what swaps you’ve made or if you have any suggestions for some really cool simple swaps for this plastic fridge July.
plastic free resources
Here are some more (global) websites that provide valuable information and educational resources about plastic waste and its impact:
- Plastic Pollution Coalition – plasticpollutioncoalition.org
- The Ocean Cleanup – theoceancleanup.com
- Surfrider Foundation – surfrider.org
- National Geographic – nationalgeographic.com/environment/plastic
- Plastic Free July – plasticfreejuly.org
- Greenpeace – greenpeace.org/international/campaign/plastic-pollution
- World Wildlife Fund (WWF) – worldwildlife.org/initiatives/plastics
- Earth Day Network – earthday.org/campaign/end-plastic-pollution
- Gyres Institute – 5gyres.org
- Plastic Oceans International – plasticoceans.org
- Plastic Free July UK – plasticfreejuly.org
- Surfers Against Sewage – sas.org.uk
- A Plastic Planet – aplasticplanet.com
- Friends of the Earth UK – friendsoftheearth.uk/plastics
- City to Sea – citytosea.org.uk
- Plastic Free Community (Part of Surfers Against Sewage) – plasticfree.org.uk
- Less Plastic – lessplastic.org.uk
- The Marine Conservation Society UK – mcsuk.org
- Plastic Pollution Coalition UK – plasticpollutioncoalition.org
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Here’s to living your best cruelty free life.
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