Participating in Plastic Free July is a great way to reduce your consumption and toxins that end up in our waterways. The initiative encourages individuals and businesses to take small steps to reduce single-use plastic, as a part of a larger green movement to change our relationship with single-use products.

THE COST OF CONVENIENCE

Before we get into Plastic Free July , it is worthwhile to understand the need for the campaign in the first place. The statistics around plastic usage and pollution can be alarming. Plastic has become a ubiquitous material used globally as an integral part of our everyday lives. Plastic has a number of valuable uses due to its lightweight, versatile and durable nature. It is unfortunate that the same properties that make plastic so useful can also cause negative impacts as the material can persist in the environment for many years.

 Globally, it is estimated that less than 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled. That means the remaining 91% ends up in landfill and wreaks havoc in the natural environment. The Plastic Oceans Foundation reports that an estimated 10 million tons of plastic enter watercourses annually, the equivalent of more than a garbage load every minute. This has devastating effects on ecosystems, marine life, river systems and the health of our ocean.

Plastic also never goes away! This means its so microscopic that you breathe in a credit cards worth a week. To highlight this issue Operations manger Laura swam every UK National Park to test for microplastics. She found microplastic at the source of every river tripling in numbers as it reached lower down the catchment.

Laura has listed her top 5 tips for Plastic Free July:-

1) Reduce your consumption- take a refill bottle and prep food at home. Tackle the ‘Big Four’

The Plastic Free July campaign identifies the ‘Big Four’ as takeaway plastic items (plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic straws and plastic cups). These are the low-hanging fruit that can be avoided by individuals and organisations to make a huge difference in single-use plastic consumption.

2) Avoid fast fashion synthetic materials as these are plastics. One of the leading causes of microplastics in water courses. Each synthetic wash sheds around 40,000 plastic fibres into water courses. Wear natural fibres and use a Guppy bag in your machine to capture plastic.

3) Write to your MP. Highlight your concerns and ask them to bring up microplastics in parliament. We want microplastics tested as an emergent contaminate so they are monitored and stricter legislation put in place.

4) Join one of our upcoming river cleans to help us raise awareness of the issue. Check the events page for updates,