“Plastic Free July” is coming up.

I’ve been trying hard to live ‘plastic free’ for a few months now. Going well. Not 100% plastic free, but pretty close! (but I haven’t been keeping track very well!) I’ve mainly cut out all disposable plastics(cups, bottles, containers), plastic bags, and plastic packaging for my food and drink.  Life is about the journey, the experience. Going plastic free is part of that for me. I eat more wholefoods, don’t eat as much takeaway, and only shop at (farmers) markets and bulk and whole food stores(Kakulas, Manna, Planet Ark) and ‘specialty stores’(bakeries, veggie shops). I cut out supermarkets for most things last year already). I am more healthy, more happy, and spend less!

I’ve had lots of questions over the last few months, asking what my tips are. I have not made the time to blog about it properly, but luckily Earthcarers have written down many things, and local Perth blogger Olive on Blonde has blogged her ‘5 steps to be plastic free‘. Awesome!

If I was to give one tip it would be this: just start! Cut just one thing(plastic bags!), or everything if you feel like it! Don’t stress about it, what’s the point? You’re doing something, well done! And definitely ask me (or others linked) for tips if you get stuck on something and want a solution! I do hope to blog more at some point! :)

As well as the Earthcarers website and Facebook page with tips for Plastic Free July, they have also organised several workshops, the main one being this Saturday at Perth City Farm (next to Claisebrook Train Station). A lot of the workshops are similar to the Less is More Festival I attended a few months ago (and never blogged about *sigh*) and bits and pieces of the Living Smart course I’m doing at the moment (which I *will* blog about!).

Feel free to leave comments below, tweet me, etc if you have any questions (or your own great tips!).

For the cynics: yes, plastic is an amazing material very useful for certain things. And I still have a lot of plastic I (re)use in my life, and very occasionally even buy new plastic (bought a BPA free bento lunch box for take-away food). This ‘plastic free’ business is about creating awareness about the amount of plastic we do use, especially where it’s not necessary, unhealthy or bad for the environment to do so! There are so many issues I want to go into right now (which I why I rarely actually finish/post a blog post!!), but… next time! :)