Why is single-use plastic an issue and what can we do about it?
Plastic Free July Blog
by The Plastic Free July Team
8M ago
“Just because plastic is disposable doesn’t mean it just goes away. After all, where is away? There is no away.’” Jeb Berrier This observation made by Jeb Berrier in the 2010 documentary ‘Bag It’ gets to the heart of single-use plastic, with single-use now such a ubiquitous term that in 2018 it was Collins Dictionary’s word of the year. It refers to something used once and then thrown ‘away’ and single-use plastic is its unfortunate poster child – a lightweight but durable product (primarily made from fossil fuels) that we use once, sometimes for just a few minutes, before disposal.   ..read more
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How Reusables Flip the Script on Plastics
Plastic Free July Blog
by Guest Author
9M ago
TV’s Newest Star: The “Emotional Support Water Bottle” By Plastic Pollution Coalition Television and movie screens have been awash with single-use plastics for decades. From red plastic cups and plastic straws to single-use plastic water bottles and coffee cups, plastic pollution sneaks into the scene across all forms of popular media (and more often than not, it’s intentionally placed there for marketing purposes). In fact, according to a study by the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center in 2021, the average TV show in the United States features 23 single-use items per episode.  Plastic Poll ..read more
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To Turn Off the Plastics Tap, We Must Grow the Grassroots Movement
Plastic Free July Blog
by Guest Author
9M ago
We Must Grow the Grassroots Movement   Each year 11 million tons of plastics enter the ocean primarily from land-based sources. If we don’t work to curb plastics production, that amount will triple by 2060. At that point there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. There will be so many dreadful statistics in our future if we allow the plastics industry to conduct business as usual, and this is what drove me to start a new organization with the central mission to end plastic pollution everywhere.  The great news is that we already have the tools we need to reduce plastic pollut ..read more
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Going plastic free, why small steps matter for your health
Plastic Free July Blog
by Guest Author
10M ago
Dr Christos Symeonides, Paediatrician and Clinical Research Specialist at Minderoo Foundation, invites us all to rethink plastics and take steps to protect our health, particularly for the sake of children. Going plastic free, why small steps matter for your health I invite you to consider that, as well as being a planetary health disaster, plastic substances may also be entering your body and be a health hazard to you and your family. It’s an uncomfortable truth. Virtually all plastic products contain a range of chemical additives that can leach out and enter food, drink, dust and air around ..read more
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Small steps can make a big difference
Plastic Free July Blog
by The Plastic Free July Team
11M ago
We can’t recycle or clean up our way out of the plastic pollution crisis. In 2023, Plastic Free July participants will again be taking their own small steps to turn off the plastics tap by choosing to refuse single-use plastics—and together, making a big difference.   This year’s ‘Small steps, big difference’ campaign kicks off on 1 July with an invitation to join millions of people worldwide taking steps towards ending plastic pollution.   Every individual choice makes a powerful impact. How do we know this? In 2022, the steps taken by Plastic Free July participants from a ..read more
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Plastic is a health hazard – our choices can prevent harm
Plastic Free July Blog
by Guest Author
1y ago
Plastic pollution is not just a waste issue, it is now known to be a public health issue.  Professor Sarah Dunlop, Head, Plastics and Human Health from the Minderoo Foundation says the links between plastic and detrimental effects on human health are increasingly clear, and projected growth in plastic production brings ever greater urgency to this issue.  Pollution at every stage of plastic Last month, the Minderoo Foundation in collaboration with world-leading researchers* published an analysis of the multiple hazards that plastic poses to human health and the ocean in the Annals of ..read more
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2022 Global Reach and Impact
Plastic Free July Blog
by The Plastic Free July Team
1y ago
We’re delighted to share this years’ results in our Plastic Free July Impact Report 2022, including the efforts of participants, businesses and governments around the world helping to end plastic waste as they ‘choose to refuse’ single-use plastic every day. The theme for Plastic Free July 2022 was ‘Turning the Tide’, describing the concerted global efforts required to tackle the scale and urgency of the plastic pollution crisis.  Global engagement  In 2022, Plastic Free July was marked worldwide by a record 140 million participants making conscious changes and reducing their waste b ..read more
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Australia joins High Ambition Coalition
Plastic Free July Blog
by The Plastic Free July Team
1y ago
Plastic Free Foundation welcomes the news that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has announced Australia will join the High Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, joining 20 other nations including Norway, Rwanda, UK, Canada, France, and Germany that aims to deliver an ambitious legally binding global treaty banning plastic pollution, which under the current trajectory is set to double by 2040. This international push for a global agreement to end plastic pollution by 2040 advocates for the treaty to include global standards, bans and restrictions on plastic.  ‘Australia is a la ..read more
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Plastic Free July a finalist at UN SDG Action Awards
Plastic Free July Blog
by The Plastic Free July Team
1y ago
Newsflash: Plastic Free July is a finalist in the mobilise category of the prestigious UN SDG Action Awards.  At an historic UN Summit in September 2015 world leaders set out 17 Sustainable Development Goals to achieve more inclusive, peaceful and sustainable societies, no later than 2030. Each year, the UN holds awards for the people and organisations taking action to shape this new reality.  Flip the script This year, the theme is #FlipTheScript – to celebrate those who are rewriting the stories on how we behave and redefining what is possible.  Out of over 3,000 applicat ..read more
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Reuse and reduce key to move Earth Overshoot Day
Plastic Free July Blog
by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz
1y ago
Everything we choose to buy, consume and accept has a footprint that is using Earth’s resources. But what happens when the resources are used up and thrown away? Similar to our bank accounts, when we spend more than we earn, we go into debt.  When we overshoot and use more resources in any given year than the Earth can regenerate we have an ecological deficit that causes pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change. The 28th July 2022 marks Earth Overshoot Day. The date when humanity has used all the biological resources that Earth regenerates during the entire year.  (Earth ..read more
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