How to get involved this Plastic Free July (and still go out)

It’s finally time for those summer plans!  

But “going out” can mean “throwing out” if we’re not careful. Plastic waste skyrockets in summer, with 40% more rubbish reaching the Mediterranean Sea.¹

Plastic Free July aims to bring this stat down, and even dreams of a future where we’re totally free of plastic waste. 

We’ve put together some simple swaps to get you through Plastic Free July and beyond - even when you’re out out. 

• Avoid single-use plastic 

• Target takeaway items (like bags, bottles, straws, and cups) 

• Go completely “plastic-free”.  

Going plastic-free doesn’t have to mean compromising your favourite activities. 

With a bit of planning, these changes can turn into habits you soon won’t even bat an eye at.

According to the Big Plastic Count 2022, the UK throws away almost 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging per year. A staggering 83% of this comes from food and drinks.³

If you’re embracing al fresco, try these tips for a picnic with less plastic:

It’s well and truly party season! But this can be a spanner in the works if you’re trying to reduce plastic.  

Not all wrapping paper is recyclable, so watch out when you’re shopping for a gift. Consider wrapping presents in fabric - a practice stemming from centuries-old Japanese Furoshiki and Korean Bojagi traditions. 

It might sound small, but doing so could help reduce the 227,000 miles of wrapping paper we use in the UK per year.⁴ 

Dried flowers, compostable ribbons, and ink stamps all make great decorations, too.  

If you’re hosting, do your best to avoid plastic-based decorations and snacks:

We’re all for summer sparkle, but your post-festival shower could be sending harmful microplastics down the drain. 

Glitter is a microplastic, a tiny piece of non-recyclable plastic that can take hundreds or even thousands of years to break down. In that time, microplastics harm the environment and can even reach our oceans, where they’re consumed by marine life.⁵

In fact, they’re so inescapable that there’s a 90% chance your standard table salt contains them.⁶ 

Avoiding plastic can be difficult when you’re face-to-face with a burger van or packing a tiny bag for a weekend’s worth of plans.  

But remember that refusing is another small but powerful action against plastic pollution.  

Don’t need that extra cup? Saying “no” means one less item in landfill. Who knows what we could do together?