Good Morning Watershed Explorers,
A campaign called Plastic Free July was started in 2011, by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz in Western Australia. This campaign evolved into the Plastic Free Foundation, which works year-round to reduce the amount of plastic use and production on the Earth. Last year, 250 million people from 177 countries participated in Plastic free July. One of the main goals of this campaign is to have program participants limit the amount of plastic they use in July. The loftier goal, however, is for participants to make a lifestyle change, and discontinue the use of certain plastics year-round.
Participation in Plastic Free July doesn't mean you have to give up all plastics. The hope is that people will cut down on at least one, if not more, single-use plastics. Here is a list of easily avoidable single-use plastics:
* plastic water bottles
* plastic straws
* plastic bags
* plastic silverware
If your family doesn't already bring reusable bags to the grocery store, that is one fantastic way to start reducing your plastic footprint. Using a reusable water bottle is another! There are so many more wonderful ideas at https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ While on the website you can also sign-up to take part in the Plastic Free July campaign.
I have posted information about plastic pollution before but just so that we are all on the same page as to why this campaign is so important, here are just a few plastic fact reminders. Only about 9% of all of the plastic produced each year is recycled. Most of the plastic people place in their recycle bins is not recycled. If we don't cut down our use of plastic now, it is estimated that by 2050, plastic will outnumber fish in the ocean. At least 8 million tons of plastic enters the world oceans each year. These are only a few of the sad plastic statistics. I encourage you all to do your own plastic research and make your own decisions about places in your life that you may be able to cut down. I find that the best ways to cut down on anything are to buy less, use less, and therefore waste less.
The image above is a shark made entirely from plastic found in the ocean. Check out this link https://washedashore.org/ to learn more about the creators and to see some other amazing plastic sculptures.
Have a very Happy Fourth of July Watershed Explorers. I am thinking of you always!
Much love,
Mrs. Morissette
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