Plastic Free July 2021: Just Switch 3
Going completely plastic free in one month is not easy or at all likely but what about just switching three easy things? Sound doable? This is what eco store, Biome is suggesting this Plastic Free July.
JUMP TO:
This Plastic Free July we’re supporting Biome Eco Store’s Just Switch 3 campaign, which is challenging people to #JustSwitch3 to encourage everyone to make just three simple swaps they can stick with.
It is easy to get overwhelmed when starting a zero waste lifestyle and looking at going plastic free and then looking at all the plastic in your life and in your bin.
Focusing on a few select things or one room of the house first helps overcome this feeling of overwhelm and lets you tackle the transformation into a zero waste home at your own pace and in a way that is sustainable.
And this also works because it gets addictive - once you find your first few plastic-free alternatives and make your first few plastic-free swaps you’ll be hooked, wanting to and excited to get another and then another wasteful, disposable item out of your home and life.
You'll find loads of Biome's tried-and-true favourite solutions and inspiration here.
Or keep reading for the three plastic-free switches you can make in different areas of your home and life this Plastic Free July. Hopefully these inspire you to get started on your waste-free journey or to progress further along your low waste path.
3 Plastic Free Bathroom Products To Switch To
The bathroom is a great place to start ridding yourself of unnecessary plastic. A huge range of alternative products is now available, ensuring you’ll be able to find something that suits you, your body and your beauty regime.
Three easy switches to make in the bathroom are:
Bamboo toothbrush
Bamboo interdental brushes - a new switch I've just made
Bars, bars bars! Whatever liquid product you have, there’s a bar for that!
Read more about the best sustainable toothbrush options, as well as eco-friendly floss and interdental brushes, or if you’re ready to move on to plastic-free toothpaste, read our deep-dive into zero waste DIY toothpaste, in which you’ll also find recommended products.
It’s hard to go wrong when buying a soap bar, but with shampoo and conditioner bars, it is a bit harder to find the right one for you. We cover the different types of these bars and help you choose the one for you in this blog post.
When it comes to bars, solid soap bars and shampoo and tooth tabs are only the tip of the solidified waste reduction solution iceberg! There are so many tablets, pods and concentrate bars that can replace liquid solutions in plastic packaging. Discover all these incredible alternatives here.
3 Reusable Grocery Shop Swaps
Go grocery shopping and don’t bring back any plastic by remembering to take these three things:
Reusable shopping bag
Produce bags like these
Bread bag like this (AU) (UK here or here, and US/CAN here) (you’ll need to find somewhere where they haven’t already placed the bread in plastic - investigate your local bakeries)
Struggle to remember your reusables when heading to the shops? Check out our top tips for remembering your reusables.
3 Natural Alternative Kitchen Items To Change To
What’s cooking in your kitchen plastic-wise? Are there a few disposable plastic products you could replace with ones made from natural compostable materials or anything packaged in plastic that you could get in compostable or zero packaging?
Three examples of these switches you could make are:
Natural fibre plastic-free sponge or scrubber like these
Solid dish soap bar like this instead of liquid dish soap in a plastic bottle
Wax wraps like these beeswax and vegan wax ones to replace plastic wrap
Read our Zero Waste Dishwashing blog post for all the plastic-free dishwasher and hand-washing options and read up on how to look after your beeswax wraps here.
Discover more ways to store food without plastic here and we share bulk dry food storage tips here.
3 Eco Cleaning Products To Try
Keep your cleaning clean of plastic waste with these three switches:
Homemade DIY cleaners (like these vinegar ones) or cleaning spray concentrate bars rather then cleaning spray in plastic bottles
Replace plastic pegs with stainless steel pegs when it’s time
Natural fibre cleaning brushes and sponges like these
Like with beauty products, many liquid cleaning products are now available in tablet, pod and concentrate bar form to wipe away the need for plastic packaging. Find out about these incredible alternatives here.
3 Refillable Items To Add To Your Bag Before Heading Out
Single-use plastic sneaks in when you’re out and about and get hungry and thirsty and are unprepared. Having these three trusty reusable items with you helps avoid heaps of disposable takeaway food and drink containers:
Reusable drink container - a water bottle and/or coffee cup or just a versatile glass jar - to fill up with water or get a hot drink in instead of non-recyclable single-use coffee cups
Reusable container to have your food placed in and to put leftover food in like one of these
Reusable cutlery to use instead of plastic cutlery
Learn how to avoid plastic water bottles when you can't drink the tap water here, browse our favourite reusable takeaway containers and find out what the 5 steps To successfully getting takeaway in your own container are.
What three switches will you make this Plastic Free July? What three switches have you done that you recommend others get around? Let us know in the comments!
*this article was featured on Twinkl as part of their Plastic Free July campaign.
*this post contains a few affiliate links. If you buy something using one of these links we may earn a small amount. To learn more, see our disclosure policy. We maintain this site in our free time and support in any way, shape or form means a lot and helps us keep it running, whether it is using an affiliate link when investing in something, sharing our content, or buying us a coffee on Ko-fi.