Earth Day 2021: Plastic Free Tips to Restore Our Earth
/This years focus for Earth Day is Restore Our Earth. We dived into their website and discovered lots of top tips around single use plastic and plastic pollution which we thought we would share. We know if you’re reading this you’re already on the journey of reducing your plastic footprint but there’s always more we can do, both in our own lives and also inspiring others to do the same.
We all know that plastic pollution is one of the most important environmental problems that we face today, impacting both people and planet. The first step to reducing your plastic use is to measure it. Earth Day have a great little tool where you can calculate your personal plastic consumption. Once you know what you are consuming you’ll then know where you may be able to make some changes. Following the many R’s of zero waste, reducing and refusing are great places to start! Everyday actions can make a difference. It may seem small but when we are all collectively making positive changes it can add up to big results!
With restaurants and local attractions opening back up we can finally dust off those reusables and start taking them out with us again! It can take some time to get into the habit of packing your reusable cup or cutlery but saying no to single use items while out and about can make a big impact on your plastic consumption.
And as we can get out and about more and start to meet up with friends organising your own mini clean up is a really positive way to help the environment. Individual and small group clean ups can have a major positive impact on your community. For us to make global change, we must have local action! You can support the Great Global Cleanup and pick up litter while out and about enjoying outdoor activities or during an organised clean. And this year you can even take photos of plastic waste near you so scientists can track plastic to its source and understand the distribution of plastics around the world with the Global Earth Challenge app. Through this mobile app, Earth Day Org are hoping to monitor and mitigate threats to environmental and human health.
If you feel like you have already taken action within your home and local community, getting involved with supporting petitions that are calling for action against single use plastic is another fantastic way to get involved. Ideas from Earth Day Org include sending a letter or calling your local elected leaders, urging them to support bans against single-use plastic items or convincing your school or office building to choose reusable utensils, trays, and dishes in the cafeteria. Another option is to support wider communities affected by plastic pollution, often marginalised communities whose voices go unheard.
There are plenty of ways to get involved this Earth Day and every action makes a difference to combat plastic pollution! Decided on your action for the day? You can register your pledge for the day, when we last checked there were 2,688,645,733 pledges registered already! Our pledge for the day will be doing our own mini local clean up which we haven’t done for a while.
Information from Earth Day Org
Check out our locations page to see where you can find us for refills or plastic free home delivery to avoid single use plastics.
