Can you go without plastic for an entire month?
Commonly known on the global ‘environmental calendar’ is plastic-free July. This is an entire month dedicated to tackling plastic pollution. According to the 2019 Ocean Conservancy report*, nine of the top ten most picked up items on International Coastal Clean-up day were plastic items. Our earth and its natural ecosystems simply cannot process plastics.
BiobiN South Africa believes in a waste management model that returns our waste to the earth in a valuable way. Here are four tips to help you go through a month without using plastic:
- Use a reusable shopping bag. Plastic shopping bags often end up in our oceans and along our coastlines.
- Avoid single-use plastics. Items such as straws persist in the environment and are often consumed by animals. Specifically avoid straws, sweet wrappers, and disposable coffee cup lids.
- Avoid unnecessary plastic packaging. Choose your grocery store and retail chains that show an active drive towards reducing plastic packaging with food products.
- Find a compostable alternative. Compostable packaging is fast becoming commonplace in many food markets. BiobiN recommends taking a moment to read the packaging to make sure that it is fully compostable, this information often with recyclability, is placed on the packaging.
Let us know how your plastic-free month is going on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BiobiNSouthAfrica