Whether it’s your first time doing Plastic Free July or your fifth, there’s always a way to get involved to celebrate this month of using less plastic. You can go small, go hard, go big, or go wide. Either way, decide on your approach this year and start planning how you’ll reduce plastic waste this July now.

It’s nearly July! Which means it’s nearly another Plastic Free July! Will you be taking part for the first time this year? Or will you be joining in again and using it to inspire you to continue and progress along your zero waste journey? Either way, there’s always a way to get involved.

No matter if you’re a newbie or an old hand, Plastic Free July is the perfect time to try start reducing your plastic waste, revisit that pesky plastic you haven’t yet been able to shake or help others in your life and community build up the habit of using reusables instead of single-use plastic.

We share a few different approaches you can take to getting involved this Plastic Free July and reducing your (and others’!) plastic waste in 2022!

1. Aim to refuse all plastic - go hard & all in

One approach is going all in and attempting to be completely plastic free for the month, refusing all single-use plastic waste and not allowing any new plastic waste to come into your life.

This can be a steep learning curve if you’re a beginner at going plastic free, which is a good and a bad thing. With a deep focus on reducing all plastic you’ll form patterns of change and pick up new habits quickly, but it can be stressful as there is lots of waste that’s out of our control and there will be fails.

Also, not knowing where to get what you want to get waste free can lead to frustration and it can take a lot of research to find the prefect sustainable swap for you, so you don’t want to rush into something that turns out to be greenwash or ends up wasted because it’s not the right eco-friendly item for your lifestyle.

That said, it’s good to challenge ourselves and if you’re up for the challenge of maximum plastic waste reduction, that’s great! Go forth and refuse!

There are lots of monthly Plastic Free July challenges available that you can follow if you like to do things in a step-by-step instructions way. Our Going Waste Free Challenge is over two months, but you could easily condense it if you wanted to.

2. Audit your bin & choose some plastic to reduce - go small & deliberate

Another approach is to just choose one, two or a few polluting plastic culprits to reduce or remove from your life.

A great way to go about this is to do a bin audit, which involves going through what you through away so you can see what items make up the most of it and where you could easily improve and reduce your waste. Read more on how to do a bin audit here.

You could also choose a specific room of the house or category of waste to focus on: maybe you want to overhaul your beauty regime to be plastic free, learn how to make your own favourite dip, spread or sauce, switch out liquids in plastic bottles for a concentrated zero waste alternative, or remove all waste from your bathroom or kitchen cupboards. Set a small goal you can achieve this month that will help you remove some plastic from your home this month and set you up to remove more rubbish from your bin and landfill every month.

Last year we wrote a blog on making three small changes, which you can use for inspiration when considering what part of your trash you want to tackle.

We also have tips and recommendations for specific waste free swaps in many of our blog posts that’ll help you slowly switch to waste free alternatives.

Tips & recommendations for specific waste free swaps

• What's The Best Shampoo Bar For Your Hair? Soap-Based or Syndet?

• Plastic-Free Deodorant: DIY & All Natural Ones That Work

• Tabs, Wax Pods & Bars: Cutting Waste With Concentrates

• Earth-Saving Shaving: Advice for Switching to a Safety Razor with Assuredness

• Choosing a plastic-free toothpaste and deciding whether to buy or DIY

• Zero Waste Dishwashing: All the Plastic-Free Dishwasher and Hand-Washing Options

3. Research & make one huge change - go big & bold

You could choose one big change to make this Plastic Free July. This might be a change you’ve been meaning to make for a while but haven’t gotten around to, something you’ve meant to do some research on to find the best alternative for you and your family, or some swap you’ve been avoiding because it seems hard and scary. Commit to doing it this month!

For example:

• Plastic-free periods: Research and start using a reusable menstrual product and learn how to clean and care for it

• Plastic-free cleaning: Overhaul your cleaning routine by clearing out and cutting unnecessary products and learn how to make your own cleaning products or where to refill or get a solid substitute in a box

• Plastic-free toilet change: Look into reusable cloth toilet wipes and getting a bidet and get one installed

• Food waste-free bin: Consider your options for reducing and composting your food scrap and start composting and being religious about storing your plastic-free food in a way that reduces food waste

• Plastic-free produce: Start growing your own herbs and other fruit and vegetables and/or foraging them from around your neighbourhood, so you no longer need to buy them in plastic

These plastic-free changes and zero waste alternatives all require some investigation and effort to get going and are not the easiest. You’ll need to go out of your comfort zone and teach yourself a new way of doing something.

Lucky for you, we’ve done a lot of the research for you that can help you make these overarching alterations to your home life to remove that growing pile of garbage!

Information & advice on bigger plastic-free lifestyle changes

• Reusable Menstrual Products: How to Choose, Clean & Other FAQ

• How To Clean & Store Your Menstrual Cup Correctly

• Clear-Out These Wasteful Cleaning Products You Really Don’t Need

• Cleaning With White Vinegar: 11 Recipes For 11 Uses

• Reusable bum wipes are not scary or stinky when you follow these simple how to use rules and follow up with a bidet spray

• Composting Basics & How To Compost In An Apartment

• Plastic-Free Fridge & Freezer: How To Store Food Without Plastic

4. Seed plastic-free solutions at your workplace, kid’s school, or local cafe - go wide & inclusive

Plastic Free July isn’t only about reducing plastic in the homes of individuals; it is also about reducing plastic waste in workplaces, schools, cafes and restaurants, stores and everywhere in our communities.

Why not make it your mission to get your workplace, kid’s school, or local café to trial or implement a plastic-free solution this Plastic Free July? This could be setting up a reusable coffee cup library or reusables station in your office building, asking your local café to promote Plastic Free July and bringing your own reusable cups and containers and to create a mug library for customers, or seeing whether the school cafeteria would agree to finding ways to reduce its plastic use and encourage students to go plastic free.

You could also ask your company, child’s learning centre, or council or a local community group to do a Plastic Free July campaign or host a plastic-free event. Your company could do a competition tallying who remembers their reusable water bottle and coffee cup and has a waste-free lunch each day, children could be asked to bring plastic-free lunchboxes to school for the month and given lessons about plastic pollution and why it is bad for the planet, or you could approach an environmental organisation active in your neighbourhood about organising a zero waste project for the community, such as a party kit to replace single-use plastic cups and plates, toy or kitchen library, or a washing up station for local markets so real plates and cutlery can be used and reused.

You’ll find how to’s, resources, and ideas for these kinds of initiatives in the blog posts listed below.

How to’s, resources & ideas for broader projects & initiatives & events

• 26 Zero Waste Projects for Your Street, Community & Workplace

• Community Sharing Directory: Initiatives In Australia & The Rest Of The World

• Zero Waste Catering: Plastic Free Parties, Sustainable Soirees & Eco-friendly Events

• Our easy nibbles recipes for picnics are also great for lunchboxes

What are you planning to do for Plastic Free July 2022? How big or hard are you going? What specific project do you have in mind for your home or outside your home?

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