By 2050 it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans. To stop the waste, the nation is asked to make the pledge and be Plastic Free this July.
Plastic Free July started in 2011 as an initiative of the Western Metropolitan Regional Council educating Perth’s western suburbs residents to ‘reduce’.
It soon grew to be a statewide campaign and now more than a million people worldwide have participated in the Plastic Free July challenge.
Plastic Free July Co-ordinator, Rebecca Prince-Ruiz said Western Australians alone use around 100 kg of plastic packing per household each year.
“We want households to choose to refuse single use plastic this July, and sign up for the Plastic Free challenge at www.plasticfreejuly.org,” Ms Prince-Ruiz said.
“There are many ways to get involved – from taking the plastic free pledge for a day, week, month or beyond or even getting a group of friends or co-workers together to have a plastic free morning tea.
“The idea is to start thinking about single-use plastic and how we can rid it from our lives.”
Ms Prince-Ruiz said being plastic free is as simple as remembering to bring your reusable bags, water bottles and coffee cups and reduce plastic packaging.
“Australians are concerned about what’s happening in our oceans and in our landfills.
“They want to be part of the ‘War On Waste’ and this challenge is a way to do it.
“Approximately fifty councils around Australia are already participating in the challenge and sharing it with their residents.”
The Plastic Free July website contains a range of tools and resources to help councils and other groups share the challenge in their community.
From hosting a plastic free morning tea to giving your local cafe posters to encourage reusable coffee cups there are lots of materials to share.
Together we can be part of the solution.
To register and find out more visit the Plastic Free July website at plasticfreejuly.org.
