The Australian-based Plastic Free Foundation is once again recruiting participants to take the Plastic Free July challenge, that is, not using single-use plastic for a day, a week, or the entire month of July.
“Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people become part of the solution to plastic pollution, so that we can have cleaner streets, oceans and beautiful communities,” say the organizers on their website. “Will you be part of Plastic Free July choosing to reject single-use plastics?”
The initiative, now in its ninth year, is spearheaded by the Australian-based Plastic Free Foundation, whose goal is to one day rid the world of plastic waste.
The annual event aims to provide resources and guides to help anyone interested in getting involved “reducing single-use plastic waste every day at home, work, school, and even your local café.”
Some of the basic solutions the organization suggests to reduce plastic waste include using reusable coffee cups and bottles, bringing your own reusable straws, buying bars of soap instead of liquid bottled soaps, avoiding prepackaged food if you are possible and simply buy fewer packaged goods in general.
Although the focus of the campaign is in July, its drive is to have an impact throughout the year.
As part of its core values, Plastic Free Foundation operates on the principle that “small changes add up to make a big difference” and emphasizes “the inclusion of people, ideas, visions and approaches.”
The Plastic Free July campaign was started in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz in Western Australia, who later founded the non-profit Plastic Free Foundation Ltd in 2017.
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