Summer brings parties, picnics and eating on-the-go! What better time to review our disposable habits! Plastic Free July highlights how our short-term convenience choices can have long-term impacts.
Did You Know? “Eight out of ten items found on beaches in international coastal cleanups are related to eating and drinking,” according to One World One Ocean. This is one problem with an easy solution: choose to refuse!
Top five ways to reduce plastic in your daily life:
- Bring your own shopping bag. On average in the United States, 100 billion plastic bags are used by consumers annually, the equivalent of one bag per person per day.
- Say no to bottled water. The amount of water used to produce a plastic bottle is 6 to 7 times the amount of water in the bottle.
- Bring your own mug. Need an excuse to purchase a YETI mug? Many coffee shops give a discount if you bring your own container!
- Choose cardboard and paper packaging over plastic containers and bags. Less than 14 percent of plastic packaging– the fastest-growing type of packaging–gets recycled.
- Kick the disposable straw habit, especially plastic ones. If you must use a straw, try a reusable one made of stainless steel.
Explore more easy tips here! Going plastic-free in July is easier than you think! Take The Woodlands Pledge and let us know what you will do!