In another 9 days it will be July. Six months of 2016 will be gone – that is half of the year. The winter solstice (in the Southern hemisphere) is gone and now the days will begin to get longer, although the coolest days are still ahead of us. Here in Australia the financial year ends on 30th June each year and then there will be a flurry of activity of tax returns and hopefully, refunds.
This year, the beginning of July will also herald a Federal election on 2nd July after an inordinately long campaign of about 8 weeks. In some respects, it seems much longer as we were subjected to much speculation regarding the date prior to the actual announcement.
None of this fills me with particular joy and optimism but there is one highlight and that is ‘Plastic Free July’.
‘Plastic Free July’ began with one Council in one city in Australia 5 years ago and last year the concept was embraced by groups and individuals in 69 countries around the globe. You can read more here.
I have read various discussions in which people have mentioned that are are setting themselves up for the challenge by buying or making tulle vegetable bags and beeswax wraps as a substitute for plastic film.
My plan is continue much as I currently do and redouble my efforts to get rid of more single-use plastic from my life.
What single-use plastic could you eliminate? What alternatives would you use? Are you looking for ideas?
I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas to develop a discussion where we can all learn from each other.
Here are some plastic-free treats from our vegie garden.
organised castle 
I took on the Plastic Free July challenge a couple of years ago but really struggled. However there are some things I learned from it that I still try to put into practice. Am deliberating whether to take on the challenge again as it’ll include school holidays, a festival trip and camping holiday which are all challenging times to go plastic free. On this side of the world we have our EU Referendum vote tomorrow and I can’t wait for it to be over: it’s been nasty, bullying, threatening and downright racist at times….
I’m trying to work out what I could ‘redouble’ my efforts on with plastic free July. I’ve tried and reverted with some options (deodorant, meat, cheese) and others I refuse to try (no poo, alternative face wash). Others, I see no simple viable choice (sour cream, yoghurt, 3M adhesive hooks) In some cases, I reuse the plastic and refill (conditioner, and BF shampoo, I use a solid bar). We still buy wraps or corn chips which come in plastic, and I take back the plastic to Coles to ‘recycle’. Panadol and similar are hard to avoid (and are needed at times). Band aids & floss too. I am willing to admit laziness, and the win for convenience with ‘squeezie’ herbs, as growing them, I killed them! Happy to take suggestions, esp if it’s not something I’ve considered, or could just work!