Plastic Free July 2021
Plastic Free July is here and we have a great program to share with y'all!
We are excited to introduce you to Sondra and Leah who will be in charge of our Plastic Free July on Instagram and Facebook this year. You can find links to all their videos and posts below.
This year we are also adding calls to action: petitions, emails to your local representatives, social media graphics to share, etc. Everything is available below. Thank you for taking action with us!
🙋♀️ Sondra has been working with us since February. If you came to our store on a weekend, there's a good chance you already met her.
She is going to start her master in City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley in the Fall.
She is obviously passionate about ways to reduce waste, and she loves to share all her tips on her podcast @keepingitgreenpodcast. No doubt that you will love watching her reels!
Fun facts: she is also a dog walker and loves finding second hand treasures while thrifting or patrolling her local buy nothing group
🙋♀️ Leah is joining our team for Plastic Free July. Born and raised in the Bay Area, she is a student at Barnard College of Columbia University where she will get her Bachelor of Arts in May 2023.
She is passionate about the intersection of sustainability, social justice, and public policy. Her Plastic Free July mission is to raise awareness about the negative environmental and social impacts of plastic pollution, particularly on low income communities and POC. She will also share with us the latest info on new state and federal bills we can all support to build a cleaner and more just world.
Fun facts: She makes her own jewelry, is an avid podcast listener, and loves spending time with her three chickens!
Watch and read all our Plastic Free July posts
Summary
- Day 1: Happy Plastic Free July!
- Day 2: Why do we need to reduce plastic waste?
- Day 3: The Zero Waste mindset
- Day 4: Support "Rise St James" against a new plastic manufacturing facility in Louisiana!
- Day 5: Reuse your glass jars
- Day 6: the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act
- Day 7: Reuse your plastics
- Day 8: Learn more about plastic pollution and sustainability with books
- Day 9: Plastic-free grocery shopping
- Day 10: The myth of recycling
- Day 11: Avoid single-use plastics on-the-go
- Day 12: The EU directive on single use plastics
- Day 13: Make your own drinks and skip the plastic bottles
- Day 14: Support California waste legislation 2021-2022
- Day 15: Make your own food and skip the plastic packaging
- Day 16: Get involved with the Surfrider Foundation
- Day 17: Mental health check
- Day 18: Sustainability change maker: the Remark App
- Day 19: Try out a bar!
- Day 20: Zero waste communities around the world
- Day 21: Doing your dishes plastic-free!
- Day 22: California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act
- Day 23: Plastic-free bathroom routine!
- Day 24: The myth of "recycling by mail"
Daily Posts
July 1st: Happy Plastic Free July!
July 2nd: Why do we need to reduce plastic waste?
Call to action: Watch "The Story of Plastic" --> https://www.storyofplastic.org/
July 3rd: The Zero Waste Mindset
REFUSE - REDUCE - REUSE - ROT - RECYCLE, in that order!
July 4th: Support "Rise St James" against a new plastic manufacturing facility in Louisiana!
Call to Action links:
Stop Formosa Plastics website: https://www.stopformosa.org/
Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/president-biden-stop-formosa-plastics?source=direct_link&
Join the Fight to #StopFormosaPlastics https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSelo3UcteXVBMsB684kOzVqtNS6wpLkhAhNjV5U-DQATNpOKA/viewform
Donate to "Rise St James" https://labucketbrigade.salsalabs.org/risestjamesdonationpage/index.html
July 5th: Reuse your glass jars!
Reuse your glass jars to store food, drinks, bulk items, kitchen and cleaning products, etc! This is a great way to transition away from plastic packaging and storage.
July 6th: The BREAK FREE FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION Act
Call to Action Links:
- https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/pollution-act/
- Sign the petition
- Add your organization's support
- Spread the word, download the social media tool kit
July 7th: Reuse your plastics!
Sometimes, plastic is inevitable. Let's find creative ways to reuse it!
July 8th: Learn more about plastic pollution and sustainability in books!
Our favorite books are available here.
And we have a free sustainability library in our store, come take a look! You can borrow a book for a month, for free.
July 9th: Plastic Free Grocery Shopping
Bring your reusable bags when you shop, that's the most efficient way to avoid plastic bags. And sometimes we don't even need a bag at all!
July 10th: The Myth of Recycling
Recycling is very confusing for end users, it is not economical, or even a viable way to deal with this material. The oil and plastic industries have always known this and invested massively in misleading the public.
It's all explained in these 2 investigations by NPR and Greenpeace UK:
NPR (2020): How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
Rolling Stones (2021): ExxonMobil Lobbyist on Playbook for Plastic: “It’s Just Like on Climate Change”
July 11th: Avoid single-use plastics on-the-go!
Here's what you need to avoid single use plastics on-the-go:
A tote bag
A reusable water bottle
A reusable cutlery set and a napkin
A reusable mug
Coffee on-the-go creates huge amounts of waste. The majority of coffee cups can't be recycled or composted, so they all get sent to landfill. And in the US, we send 54 billion coffee cups to landfill each year!!
It's not just about plastic waste: 500 single use coffee cups consume 370 gallons of water vs washing the same mug 500 times only requires 53 gallons of water (source: Upstream)
By using your own mug, you can avoid plastic waste and save water!!
July 12th: the EU Directive on Single-Use Plastics
In 2019, an EU directive was entered into force with the goal of tackling the issues of single-use plastics by 2021. On July 3rd, 2021 this directive went into full effect outlawing certain single-use plastics in Member States markets and restricting others.
Call to action: share this information with your local representatives and demand the same type of regulations, a.k.a The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act!
July 13th: Make your Own Drinks and Skip the Plastic Bottles!
July 14th: Support California Waste Legislation 2021-2022
Support new legislations to reduce plastic waste. Below you will find all the resources you need.
- General Information
- SB 343 (Allen) – Recycling Symbols: https://www.cawrecycles.org/sb343
- AB 478 (Ting) – Thermoform Minimum Content: https://www.cawrecycles.org/ab478
- AB 1276 (Carrillo) – Unnecessary Foodware Serviceware: https://www.cawrecycles.org/ab1276-carillo
- AB 962 (Kamlager) – Refillable Glass Beverage Containers: https://www.cawrecycles.org/ab962
- AB 881 (Lorena Gonzalez) – Plastic Waste Exports: https://www.cawrecycles.org/ab881
- Take Action!
- 🌿Share our post on social media
- 🌿Tag your California state legislators! (findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov/)
- 🌿Call, email, or write your representatives asking them to support these bills!
- Find their contact information here! (http://www.legislature.ca.gov/your_legislator.html)
- California Assembly Members contact information (https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers)
- California State Senators contact information (https://www.senate.ca.gov/senators)
- Sample email/letter format for writing your representative (https://cdn.ymaws.com/sites/cppa.site-ym.com/resource/resmgr/docs/legislation/SampleLetter.pdf)
- 🌿Ask your California family, friends, neighbors, colleagues etc. to call and/or email their legislators too! The more voices we have supporting these measures the better!
- 🌿BONUS: write letters to editor of your local news outlets in support of these bills or set meetings with your legislators to in support of these bills!
July 15th: Make your own food and skip the plastic packaging
July 16th: Get involved with a local non-profit like the Surfrider Foundation
Learn more about ocean-friendly restaurants: https://www.surfrider.org/programs/ocean-friendly-restaurants
Learn about beach cleanups: https://cleanups.surfrider.org/about/beach-cleanups/
Take Action Page: https://secured.surfrider.org/action/
To Volunteer: https://www.surfrider.org/volunteer
Find a nearby chapter: https://www.surfrider.org/chapters
July 17th: Mental health check
July 18th: Sustainability change maker: the Remark App
To learn more and download the app for free: https://remark.eco/
July 19th: Try out a bar!
Solid products are an amazing solution to reduce packaging waste! Solid dish soap - Shampoo and conditioner bars - Bar soaps - Lotion bars - Laundry stain stick - Solid makeup remover, etc
Day 20: Zero waste communities around the world
Learn more via these links:
- Watch The Story of Plastic to see some of the communities that were highlighted in the post (https://www.storyofplastic.org/about)
- GAIA Report on Malabon City, Philippines (https://zerowasteworld.org/wp-content/uploads/Malabon.pdf)
- Article on San Fernando City, Philippines (https://www.rappler.com/environment/san-fernando-pampanga-zero-waste-achievable)
- Report on San Fernando City, Philippines (https://zerowasteworld.org/wp-content/uploads/San-Fernando.pdf)
- Zero Waste city manual (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1khQsfGfk7aqAkz5jDMepAq1uaGq0hvUr/view)
Day 21: Doing your dishes plastic-free!
Everything you need is available in our Kitchen Collection. And you can come to our store to refill your bottle of dish soap or order a refill online!
Day 22: California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act
- Text of the initiative (https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/initiatives/pdfs/19-0028A1%20%28Recycling%20Products%20%29.pdf)
- San Francisco Chronicle Article “Anti-plastic waste ballot initiative approved for 2022 ballot” (https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Anti-plastic-waste-ballot-initiative-approved-for-16325589)
Day 23: Plastic-free bathroom routine!
Day 24: The myth of "recycling by mail"
- Beyond Plastics and The Last Beach Clean Up Fact Sheet (https://beyondplastics.squarespace.com/s/Recycling-by-Mail-is-a-Major-Climate-Fail_Fact-Sheet-_June-2021.pdf)
- Beyond Plastics Press Release (https://www.beyondplastics.org/press-releases/recycle-by-mail-is-a-major-climate-fail?fbclid=IwAR2jTXsX-Y-A67tlFTqzZx1DgofqBsp_HXG08S-ZuXq8hGHMmc52EBGLzKM)