5 Small Steps to Lessen Plastic Waste and Rev Up your Recycling Efforts this 'Plastic Free July'

Have you heard of ‘Plastic Free July?’ The non-profit, Plastic Free Foundation, is helping reduce our reliance on single use plastics, and July is its big month! If we all take a few small steps we can significantly reduce the amount of plastic waste clogging our landfills, rivers, and oceans and harming our wildlife. Small changes now will help eliminate microplastics leaching into our water and food supply over the longer term. The good news? You won’t have to radically change your lifestyle.

In most instances, the changes you make have you purchasing similar products that don’t contain plastic. Let me take a minute to mention I am including name brands below to help you make sustainable choices. I regularly use all the products mentioned and I am happy with the performance. I’m sure there are many other products on the market that you could turn up with a web search.

So, where to start and how? Here goes…

#1) This one is easy. - Simply go online to https://plasticfreejuly.org. You can sign up to take part in Plastic Free July or take the Pesky Plastics Quiz, which will help you determine what plastics to swap out for other alternatives. Alternatively, you can skip this step and go to #2.

#2) Avoid plastic and a backache – I have transformed my laundry. I’ve eliminated bringing home heavy plastic jugs of detergents and color boosters, opting instead for an alternative in aluminum containers, shipped to my door in compostable packaging. My choice is Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products | Blueland

#3) Reuseable paper towels – Arguably, paper towels can be composted, but why cut down trees for them in the first place? I have switched to Swedish towels for wiping countertops and other such surfaces. How does this reduce plastic? That layer of plastic around large bulk or small packages is not recyclable in most places. Switching to Swedish towels greatly eliminates the need for paper towels and switching to bamboo towels wrapped in paper eliminates the plastic wrap.

#4) ‘Bag it’ the sustainable way - I switched to compostable trash bags. I’ve purchased from several grocery stores, like Whole Foods, and online at Responsible Products. Responsible Products can be pricey; however, I take advantage of their sales and have found value. The link includes a discount to the buyer https://www.responsibleproducts.shop/discount. * Please see additional disclosure below on this link.

#5) Bidets are having a moment – And if you have one you know they greatly reduce the need for toilet paper. Whether you have hopped on the bidet (no pun intended) or not, you’ll still need some TP at which time you will encounter another non-recyclable plastic wrap. I use bamboo toilet paper. Recycled toilet paper works too, even though it doesn’t sound great. Using either of these options is more sustainable due to the use of bamboo or the recycled content in the product. I’ve found these products also come wrapped in paper, reducing the troublesome plastic wrap. My go to options: https://reelpaper.com and https://us.whogivesacrap.org . Who Gives a Crap also sells tissues made with bamboo and I use those as well.

You will be surprised at how easy it is to eliminate plastic by making the switch. Can’t switch all the items at once? No problem, start with 1 or 2 and be proud of how much plastic you save not only in the month of July, but all year long.

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* The Responsible Products link is an affiliate link and will provide you a discount and me a tiny commission, so tiny I don’t even know how much. I see it as a win/win. If you prefer not to use the link and therefore, not take advantage of the discount, you can search for Responsible Products online as an alternative.