Our Permaculture Life: 5 Reasons You Should Try the Plastic Diet too

5 Reasons You Should Try the Plastic Diet too

I'm going on a plastic diet. I've just signed up for the Plastic-Free July Challenge because it troubles me how much damage we are causing with everyday waste.  Care to join me...?


Reduce plastic: Grow your own veggies, or buy fresh, local package-free vegetables from markets.

Single-use plastic continues to fill bins everywhere - plastic shopping bags, plastic cups, straws, plastic packaging... Just about everything is wrapped. Much of it is unnecessary, and most of it ends up in landfill and the oceans.

Image: www.sustainablecoastlines.org
Plastic is designed to last, but every day we use it for disposable items which last a few minutes before we throw them away. That plastic then spends more than our lifetime trying to break down - some of it will still be here more than seven generations from now.

Five really good reasons to go on a plastic diet too:




A red-footed booby on Christmas Island, in the Indian Ocean. © CSIRO, Britta Denise Hardesty

I like to think that I am a conscious consumer - aware about my use of plastics and the impact of my purchasing behaviour .... but I have still been coming home with too many single-use plastics. Mmmmm.... time for a different approach.

During Plastic-Free July I am aiming to significantly reduce my consumption of single use plastic. Hopefully rising to the collective challenge will help me get over a few more lingering plastic habits.

Last year over 36,000 people registered for the challenge from 85 countries. Maybe you want to join too. You can sign up for a day, a week or the whole month. You can attempt to refuse all single-use plastic or go for just the top 4: plastic bags, water bottles, takeaway coffee cups and straws.

The Challenge (from www.plasticfreejuly.org)
  1. Attempt to refuse single-use plastic during July.
  2. Remember it's not going to be easy! It is a challenge, not a competition so don't worry about being perfect.
  3. Collect any unavoidable single-use plastic you buy. Keep in a dilemma bag and share it with us at the end of the challenge.
  4. It's up to you regarding how long you participate. You might decide to go plastic-free for a day, a week, a month or longer! However long you choose will still make a contribution.

We are joining Plastic Free July to challenge ourselves to reduce our plastic use even more and of course to sustain those changes.

I hope even more people will join the challenge this year. You can sign-up, show your support and be part of the solution to the growing problem of plastic pollution in our environment.

Will you join me in making positive change?

Here's a few starters, with links to other posts I've written on these topics:
  1. Getting rid of plastic wrap - make your own beeswax cloths
  2. Grow your own fressh package free foods - make a no-dig garden
  3. Purchase bulk foods and take your own containers
  4. Shop at Farmers Markets
  5. Make your own pasta and sauce.
  6. Make your laundry detergent 
  7. Avoid products with microbeads. 


A great way to visualise the many ways we can cut unnecessary plastic from our lives.

Labels: , , , , ,