#ChooseToRefuse Plastic Free July
/Who was shocked by the first part of the BBC documentary War On Plastic? We were, 19,500,000,000 pieces of single-use plastic calculated to be in UK homes?! a number so huge its hard to imagine! No wonder we don’t have the appropriate waste management system in place, resulting in a truck load of plastic waste making its way to the ocean every minute of every day.
The show highlighted how ubiquitous plastic is and also how its hard to avoid, something we were aware of having been on our own plastic-free journey for the past 6 years. Our own journey led us to launching Incredible Bulk so we could help more people go plastic-free like we had managed to. Having available, easy options for alternatives makes it so much easier. Its all about the small steps and changes. The best place to start was highlighted in the documentary and that’s to do your own plastic audit.
And now is the perfect time, July marks the start of Plastic Free July, a yearly month long challenge to avoid single-use plastic. There’s always more you can do and having a little challenge to motivate you always helps, we’re already having a think about what our next personal plastic-free challenge will be!
If you want to get involved take the next couple of weeks to have a look at your waste and start thinking about what plastic you want to avoid. Remember, not all plastic is bad, we do believe that plastic was invented with good intentions, such as saving natural resources but unfortunately it has now been turned into a cheap commodity that is used for too many disposable items. A big part of the solution is not only about plastic-free swaps but also about curbing our over-consumption, another fact highlighted by the sheer volume of items found in UK homes. Use the audit to become aware of how much you are buying and check in to see if it is all necessary. A big part of our journey has been learning and accepting to live with less and moving away from disposable culture to a more sustainable one. Trust us its a very rewarding journey!
For ideas on plastic free swaps check out our 30 options in the van
To read more about Plastic Free July and sign up for the challenge
BBC article War On Plastic Litter vs War On Plastic
To find BBCs War On Plastic
