Join over two million people world-wide stepping up in Plastic Free July in 2018.

This year both Earth Day (April 22) and World Environment Day (June 5) are focused on ending plastic pollution. It is an issue is coming to light as one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time. As we learn how much plastic permeates our lives – and now our environment – it’s time to take action. Luckily, many of us already are!

More than 6 out of 10 of us are already refusing plastic shopping bags, avoiding pre-packed fruit and vegetables, picking up litter and avoiding bottled water.

The Challenge

Choose to refuse single-use plastic July 1st-31st. Single-use plastics are those plastic things that are used just once, for an average of only 12 minutes ,before being discarded – think wrappers, bags, plastic cutlery etc. By challenging yourself, you’ll likely realize how common disposable plastic items are, and build awesome habits to reduce your use long after the challenge is over.

If you’re just starting out and refusing all single-use plastic seems impossible, try starting with the Top 4: Coffee cups (even paper cups are lined with plastic), plastic bags, bottles, and straws.

You can learn more about the problem with disposable plastic in our Go Strawless post.

For Teachers:

Take advantage of the Plastic-Free July pledge as a warm-up for Zero-Waste October. The October challenge was created with a focus on students by a middle school teacher and zero-waste blogger. Gain insights and get ideas for your students by personally taking on disposable plastics this summer.