Small steps, big difference – Plastic Free July 2024

I can’t believe we are already getting close to Plastic Free July 2024! Plastic Free July is something that I have been passionate about for over about 4 or 5 years now. I think it is so great that we have a month to really dedicate and focus on our plastic consumption. It doesn’t matter what stage of your plastic-free journey you are at. Whether you have not taken part before or if you have been taking part for a few years.

This blog post is part of the Climate Change Collective series, created by Jamie and Michelle. We are a group of like-minded eco-friendly/sustainability bloggers, with each month someone writes the lead post. For this month, I am writing about Plastic Free July.

(Cover photo by Polina Tankilevitch)

What is the Plastic Free July challenge?

Plastic Free July began in 2011 and is a key initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation. It started in Western Australia and now millions of people participate all over the world. It is truly amazing how many people have become involved in the 13 year span of the project.

I have written a fair few blog posts on Plastic Free July already if you want to read further information. In this post, I want to focus on the theme for 2024 which is ‘Small steps, big difference’. The key takeaway message is that you don’t have to do everything, and if we all take small steps it can lead to a big difference. Smell from Smelly Socks and Garden Peas recently shared a post on tiny steps to save the planet, I’d definitely recommend taking a read.

Small steps for Plastic Free July 2024

Educate yourself

A good first step is to educate yourself by reading a book or watching a documentary. There are so many great books and documentaries out there and on many different platforms! Molly shared a fantastic list of the most important nature documentaries to watch. She also shared how to ensure that the documentary is trustworthy, which is something I haven’t considered but will definitely do in the future. I generally watch nature documentaries, but a few plastic pollution specific ones are:

• Seaspiricy – This really made me realise the extent of plastic in the fishery sector.
• Blue Planet
• Our Planet

General sustainability books have lots on reducing plastic consumption and making eco-friendly swaps. Here are a few books, specifically on plastic pollution:

• How To Give Up Plastic by Will McCallum
• No. More. Plastic by Martin Dorey
• Turning The Plastic Tide by Lucy Siegle

Conduct a plastic audit

Understanding what plastic you use can be super helpful for knowing which you could make more sustainable. Back in March, Greenpeace and Everyday Plastic ran The Big Plastic Count where households, schools and communities count the amount of plastic they use for one week. This is split into categories which comprise of food & drink, cleaning & toiletries and everything else (excluding medicine).

While this year’s count is over, there’s nothing to stop you from conducting your own plastic audit. You could create a list for each room of the house, with single use plastic items products that you use. After completing your audit, it will give you a good idea of some swaps you can make. It is likely that the lists will be long, but don’t make all the swaps now! You are more likely to stick with a habit by starting small and adding in another swap a month later.

First swaps

The first swap you make is obviously entirely up to you, and everyone’s first swap is not the same. I think my first swap was switching to a reusable travel mug in 2018 and I’m still using the same mug. Alternatively, you could drink in instead of having a coffee to go. Having a travel mug allows for the option of making a coffee at home and drinking on the commute or at work.

Choose one swap to make for Plastic Free July 2024, try to stick with it and see how you feel at the end of the month. The next month you could carry on, pick a different swap if this one isn’t working, or even add another swap in. Try and encourage your household/family/children to take part as well.

Small swaps to make:

• Bring reusable bags with you when shopping – Keep them in the car, or in your handbag so they are always ready.
• Bring your own cutlery set instead of using disposable cutlery – You could keep this in the car or your work bag if you often take pasta etc. for lunch
• Bring a water bottle instead of buying one – I wish more places had refill stations, though you can ask in a cafe etc.
• Use cotton rounds rather than makeup wipes – Reusable rounds are much gentler on your skin than a wet wipe! Mine have lasted about 5 years and are still in pretty good quality.
• Switch to a soap bar instead of liquid soap – There are lots of great soap bar options out there, alternatively, you could get liquid soap refills.

Continue reading: Small steps, big differences – Plastic Free July 2024

Next steps

Once you have made a few swaps and stuck with the new habits, hopefully you will see a difference in your plastic consumption. There are bigger steps, but it is far easier to do lots of small steps rather than one big step! Next steps to consider are:

• Laundry routine – There are a few different aspects to making your laundry routine more sustainable and less wasteful. You could switch to a powder instead of capsules in plastic or liquid in plastic bottles. Laundry sheets can be great too, by simply placing them at the bottom of the drum. Putting washing in a guppy bag can reduce the amount of microplastics that are produced.
• Bathroom swaps – Use a shampoo bar or refill shampoo bottle, use a replaceable razer head rather than a disposable one, sustainable period products, use mouthwash tablets or toothpaste tablets etc. I find the zero-waste aspect of the bathroom a bit tricky, so I haven’t done a lot of these ideas yet.
• Kitchen swaps – Eliminate cling film/plastic wrap and opt for beeswax wraps or Tupperware boxes, buy dry food in bulk such as pasta, rice etc.
• Cleaning routine – Buy cleaning products in bulk, use concentrated pods such as Ocean Saver. You could make your own; a lot of eco friendly cleaning products use bicarbonate of soda and essential oils for a nice scent. Consider cutting up old towels to use as cleaning cloths.

I hope this post has given you some ideas for your first swaps, and that I haven’t overwhelmed you!

Which swap are you planning on choosing for Plastic Free July 2024?

Caroline ♡