HEALTHY PLANET: PLASTIC FREE JULY: READY, SET, GO!

I'm doing this thing my friend told me about: Plastic Free July.  

Plastic Free July actually started in Western Australia way back in 2011 by Rebecca Prince-Ruiz and a small group of government employees, according to their website.  Now it has become just one initiative of the Plastic Free Foundation, an award-winning organization working toward a plastic free future.  A daunting task.

Plastic is, of course, a fossil fuel product made from natural gas, coal, and petroleum.  So our "friends" in the fossil fuel industry, and plastic manufacturers as well, are pretty invested in seeing to it that plastic remains a growth industry and something consumers just can't do without -- or easily avoid.

Since fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource that's not good.  And since plastic doesn't easily break down and degrade back to the earth in a healthy way, and does lots of terrible damage to the environment while it hangs around, it is pretty awful in many ways.  The plastic cup your yummy iced coffee comes in could live on for 50 years!  Even if you throw it in the "plastics" recycling bin.  (Unfortunately very little of that stuff is actually recycled.)  More on all of this in future posts.

So, what's a concerned and earth-loving human to do?  Well, I'm doing Plastic Free July.  I know I won't be "plastic free".  But I plan to become more "plastic aware".  

My first step is to raise my own awareness about what actions I can take.  Since plastic is so ubiquitous, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and just give up.  "I'll never be able to NOT use plastic!"  Maybe not.  But I'm starting with watching and noticing every time I DO use and/or buy something plastic (or which is packaged in plastic).  Noticing is the first step.

Next, I will ask myself, "What alternative is there?"  I might come up with some innovative and creative ideas!  

Or I might ask,  "Can I do without this?"  Hmmm...a lesson in discernment between "want" and "need".  (This popped up yesterday when I decided to forgo my much craved Starbucks iced mocha because of the plastic cup it would come in.  I survived.)

I have no solid answers at the moment, just an intention of consciousness-raising and creative problem-solving.  I'll let you know how it goes.  If you want to join me, here's the link to Plastic Free July.    https://www.plasticfreejuly.org

The antidote to despair is action.  Let's act!

Here's to health, for ourselves and our planet...©

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