Hi, families and caretakers! Happy Plastic Free July! Do you find yourself drowning in plastic trash? Packing for beach trips, hosting BBQs, and shuttling kids to camp and practice can generate a lot of single-use plastic waste. Even the most sustainably minded family can have a car that looks like an overflowing trash can by mid-summer.
What happens to this plastic waste? Most of it will head to the landfills and incinerators. Some of the plastic bottles will be placed into a recycling bin, but due to cross contamination within single-stream recycling, most won’t be recycled into new bottles. And many of the plastic forks, cups, bottles, straws, and plates will end up as litter - not always intentionally - that will slowly break apart into microplastics polluting our waterways.
So what can we do? We can make personal choices to reduce, or eliminate, our consumption of disposable plastic. Start carrying reusable water bottles for everyone in your family instead of single-use plastic bottles. Use reusable forks, spoons, knives, cups, and plates at your barbeque. Pack snacks in reusable containers rather than buying individually wrapped packages of fruit gummies.
But individual actions, while positive, are not enough to stem the plastic tide. That’s why we invite you to join Clean Water Action in taking on plastic on a larger scale this Plastic Free July and beyond!
We’re tackling waste and plastic trash across New England. In Rhode Island, we’re continuing to fight for the passage of a RI bottle bill – a policy solution modeled in other states that is proven to reduce litter and increase recycling. Live in Rhode Island? Send a message to your legislators! In Massachusetts, we’ve partnered with businesses, and even a school, on a reusable take-out container program, so people can get food to-go without the plastic trash. And in Connecticut, we just hosted a Zero Waste triathlon with the Cedar Lake Tri Series. Athletes stayed hydrated without leaving a mountain of plastic cups behind.
We are continuing to expand Clean Water’s award-winning ReThink Disposable program across New England! ReThink Disposable works with local restaurants and institutions who want to make the switch away from single-use disposable food ware. This prevents marine pollution, reduces plastic consumption, and even saves restaurants money.
Make a Special Gift to Support our ReThink Disposable program this Plastic Free July!
The petrochemical lobby is desperate to keep us all hooked on plastic because plastic is made from fossil fuels. They continue to push false solutions like “chemical recycling” to try and convince you that we can keep using and disposing of plastic bottles forever.
But we know that our kids’ climate future is at stake, and we’re focused on real solutions: reduce our consumption of plastic, design items for reuse, and build recycling and reuse systems that are easy and convenient for families to use. Together, let’s make #PlasticFreeJuly more than just a summer trend and build a sustainable future for our kids. (And clean out the backseats of our cars.) Make a donation today to help us reach out Plastic Free July fundraising goal! Thank you in advance for your support.
