Breaking up with plastic: Plastic Free July
The Plastic Free July Challenge is prompting me to take my first steps towards a plastic free lifestyle in a serious way. Over the last year, I've consciously taken a step back and really looked at how I can work towards my goal of a plastic free lifestyle. I decided to tackle one form of single-use plastic at a time, that I was using in my daily life.
Realistically, I'm aiming for 80/20 :
80% of everyday plastic is easy to eliminate
the other 20% is the harder stuff that I have less control over.
Many of us can remember cigarette smoke on a plane, in restaurants, pubs and public spaces. I remember my hair stinking of cigarette smoke after a night out, and being burned one too many times on my arms by someone who was smoking a cigarette while we were out dancing. Many younger people can't even imagine that in 2018. My hope is that one day, we will look back on our addiction to single use plastic the same way we now look at cigarettes and smoking.
It starts with awareness, and by making people aware of their single use plastic habits, we can move towards a cleaner, more sustainable world.
What is Plastic Free July?
Plastic Free July is an Australian nonprofit charitable foundation that launched a movement in hopes of creating a world without plastic waste in 2011. Since then millions of mindful global citizens in over 150 countries have taken up the challenge to cut plastic out of their lives for at least a month, but ideally indefinitely.
Keep in mind:
Half of all plastic is produced for single-use, so avoiding single-use plastic can reduce our personal footprint by half.
Plastic-free living is a marathon, not a sprint, so every little step makes a huge difference.
The easiest way to eliminate single-use plastic from your life is to start by making tangible changes one at a time rather than overwhelming yourself by trying to swap out everything at once. Plastic free habits take time to form and you’ll likely forget your sustainable alternatives for single-use plastic quite a lot in the beginning. Give yourself some leeway and commend yourself for starting the effort to reduce your waste. You can read more about the challenge and sign up here.
Breaking up with plastic
I'm no eco angel by any means, and I'm still finding it really hard to 'break up' with plastic. Making sustainable lifestyle changes is especially difficult in a small developing island. Sustainable alternatives to plastic - such as bulk shopping - are just not available to us as yet and the general awareness is lacking compared to other countries.
However, there are some incredible changes happening on a local and regional scale. I am just learning and finding my way thanks to the Plastic Free July Challenge. I am also discovering ways in which I want to use my blog and platform to share my experience during the Plastic Free July Challenge, to learn from others and to help others make small changes, too.
For the month of July, I'll be committing to the Plastic Free July Challenge and taking small steps to further reduce my dependency on single use plastic in my life, whilst also highlighting others in this space who inspire me, as well as local and international resources.
My challenge to anyone reading this is to join me in this break up - It will be difficult at times, but oh so worth it in the end.
Plastic Free Lifestyle tips
Here are some tips and small steps you can take this month to help you live with less plastic, based on the fact that top four single-use plastic items are plastic straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles, and takeaway coffee cups. This list is just a basic outline, and I'll be sharing some more comprehensive posts with suggestions, as well as local and international resources that I've found useful and inspirational.
Speak Up
The first thing I've learned about breaking up with plastic is that you need to speak up about what's bothering you. I'm quite outspoken to begin with, but speaking up about single use plastic has been especially difficult and uncomfortable at times. Speaking up means refusing plastic wherever possible, while also speaking to businesses and services about their plastic usage. Speaking up and encouraging behavioural change from restaurants, cafes, hotels and other businesses will help to create a communal shift towards responsible consumption.
I have harassed so many waiters, baristas and bar staff by repeating "NO STRAW PLEASE!" when ordering a drink, it's comical. In Barbados, many bars and restaurants just automatically give you a straw (or a few stirrers) with your drinks. Before a server can give me a straw or stirrer, I make a point of saying that I don't want one. When making these requests to leave out any form of plastic, I am often met with a very confused look as so many service industry professionals are trained to give you a plastic straw or stirrer automatically. It's a tricky situation, so you have to be persistent.
Sparking conversations about sustainability
We live near to Oistins Fish Fry and a plate of fish and macaroni pie has become our 'go-to' for takeaway food. Recently, we approached our favourite vendor - "Mo's" - about serving us our takeaway meals in our own containers. I must admit, it was a bit uncomfortable making this request at first. However, it sparked a great conversation about sustainability and Mo's agreed to indulge us. Since then we have always brought our own containers to Oistins, or eaten from plates when there. I would encourage anyone to do the same with somewhere that you eat, or order out from!
Plastic Straws
If you need a straw, it's best to buy a nice stainless steel, glass or bamboo straw instead. However, you have to get in to the habit of carrying your straw with you and cleaning it after use. It's a new habit that takes practice! You can buy any of these items from Nikola at Sustainable 17 and Angelica at Bamboo Life.
Plastic Bags
A few supermarkets and stores have started charging for plastic bags. However, it's really up to us as consumers to reduce our dependency on plastic bags. A big part of this is to be prepared and walk with our own reusable bag when visiting the supermarket.
Invest in a few soft tote bags and always keep at least one in your purse or bag.
You can also use cardboard boxes when grocery shopping.
Pick up some produce bags, to replace the little bags we use when purchasing vegetables.
Make sure to stress that you don’t need a plastic bag when buying produce #choosetorefuse
Plastic Bottles
Replace plastic bottles with a refillable bottle. Luckily, our water is drinkable in Barbados (for the most part)
A stainless steel bottle is better and healthier than a plastic bottle;
Stainless steel bottle keep your liquid hot or cold
With Stainless steel bottles, there is no risk of any chemicals seeping in to your water from the bottle itself.
Takeaway Plastics
Avoiding single-use plastic packaging can be one of the trickiest plastic issues in Barbados. Here are some suggestions:
Bring your own coffee cups to any coffee shop in Barbados, instead of using plastic takeaway containers and straws.
Make a note of which vendors, restaurants and hotels use biodegradable takeaway containers or paper packaging in Barbados. Support them, encourage them, and celebrate them! I will be sharing a list of places on this blog.
Use your own containers where possible. This is another tricky one, but we have tried this ourselves and it worked.
I’m taking small steps on a daily basis towards my goal of living a more mindful, sustainable lifestyle. It’s been challenging in Barbados. Thankfully, the sustainable lifestyle community is growing in Barbados, and there are a number of online resources.
Have you cut out single-use plastic? Have you ever tried The #PlasticFreeJuly Challenge?
Update: I shared an update to this post in July, 2019, where I shared a little bit about my plastic free journey; lessons learned along the way and sustainable swaps that worked for me, and others that did not.