How to live without plastics for a month, according to the founder of a global movement
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Some of the reusable items to avoid single use plastics.Zayrha Rodriguez / NPR -
What’s in my kit? A food storage container, reusable silicone bag and silverware for takeout and fast-casual restaurants, a straw, water bottle, cup and lid, as well as a cloth for good measure.Zayrha Rodriguez / NPR
What would a month without buying any new single-use plastic products look like?
It’s a tall order for many Americans, who go through about five pounds of plastic a week, according to Oxford University’s Our World In Data. Most of that plastic will end up in a landfill and take anywhere from 20 years to centuries to decompose.
This level of plastic waste inspired the Plastic Free July movement, which aims to engage individuals to reduce single-use plastic consumption as well as push for systemic change.
Rebecca Prince-Ruiz founded the movement in 2011 after touring a local recycling facility in Western Australia. Seeing the mountain of plastic her town generated made her understand the need to create less of it in the first place. The following month, she and her coworkers cut single-use plastics from their lives. Millions have undertaken the same challenge in the years since.
Going plastic-free made Prince-Ruiz build new habits in little ways she hadn’t anticipated. Sitting down to drink coffee at a cafe rather than downing it from a plastic cup while commuting made her more mindful. Making garlic bread from scratch instead of buying a frozen bag became a way to spend time with her son.
“I think plastic, in some ways, is a symbol of how busy we've become; of the throwaway society that we've become,” Prince-Ruiz said.
So how can someone prepare for a plastic-free July?
Prince-Ruiz recommends carrying a “plastic-free kit” with you in your work bag, gym bag, car or bike for leftovers or fast food.
For people doing Plastic Free July for the first time, Prince-Ruiz recommends not trying to change everything all at once.
“Use what you have, do what you can, don't focus on what you can't,” she said.
The changes that stick are the ones that work well with your current lifestyle, which is why doing too much too fast can lead to burnout.
Prince-Ruiz also recommends doing the challenge with friends.
She says that a good place to start is looking in your trash can, refrigerator and pantry to review the types of waste you’re creating — and looking for alternatives from there.
Trying to cut plastic use isn’t easy or an option for everyone, Prince-Ruiz warns. It can require more planning, more time and in many cases, more money.
Still, individual actions can have an impact: Last year, she estimates 89 million people worldwide participated in Plastic Free July (though some may have signed up for just a week or a day), reducing over 500 million pounds of household single-use plastics.
Over the past decade, Prince-Ruiz has seen an increased appetite to reduce plastic.
“There's so many community groups and NGOs working on this issue that this groundswell of community change has started to put pressure on business and government, and we're starting to see systemic change,” Prince-Ruiz said. “So I think we've come a long way. We still have so far to go.”
Prince-Ruiz and people around the world trying for a plastic-free July will have some company
I’ll be joining them starting tomorrow, for a week. Here’s my game plan:
♻️ Cut out online shopping and food delivery;
♻️ Fill my own containers in the bulk section of my grocery store;
♻️ Carry a kit in my tote bag whenever I leave the house;
♻️ And replace single-use plastics with plastic-free alternatives if any run out.
If it’s impossible to buy a plastic-free alternative for an item such as string cheese, granola bars or potato chips, I’ll attempt to make it myself. Plus, having snacks on hand will hopefully help me avoid food delivery and fast food — as well as all of the plastic they bring.
Going plastic free could be easier for me than it would be for many Americans. I live in Washington, D.C., within walking distance of a grocery store that sells food in bulk — which isn’t the norm across the country.
At the end of this experiment, I’ll bring all of my plastic waste into the studio and report back on the costs, challenges and benefits. I’ll be back on Morning Edition on July 26 to talk about my plastic-free week.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to clarify that some participate in Plastic Free July for varying lengths of time. It has also been updated to reflect how long Morning Edition producer Claire Murashima will participate.
This story was edited for broadcast by Ally Schweitzer and edited for digital by Obed Manuel.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Can you go a whole month without using any plastic? Well, that's the challenge issued by the Plastic Free Foundation, a nonprofit based in Australia. This month, they're calling on people all over the world to avoid single-use plastics. About a quarter of those plastics will end up as litter, according to Oxford University's Our World in Data, and also take anywhere from 20 years to even as long as centuries to decompose. NPR producer Claire Murashima is accepting the Plastic Free Challenge. She's planning to go without it for just a week, starting tomorrow, and she joins us now to talk about it. Claire, it's the first I'm hearing of Plastic Free July. So what did this idea come from?
CLAIRE MURASHIMA, BYLINE: Yeah, it was started by an Australian woman named Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, and she had toured a recycling facility in her town in Western Australia in 2011, and she was just amazed by the amount of plastic that was going through the facility. So she challenged some of her co-workers and friends to cut out plastic for the next month.
MARTÍNEZ: One whole month plastic-free - how did that go?
MURASHIMA: She found a few unexpected benefits. Like, it just helped her slow down her life. For example, instead of getting to-go coffee and drinking it while she was commuting to work, she would sit at a cafe and be more mindful of the coffee that she was drinking. And instead of buying garlic bread at the store, like she used to do, she would make it with her son, and she found, you know, having more quality time was good. Here's how she put it.
REBECCA PRINCE-RUIZ: I think plastic in some ways, it's a symbol of how busy we've become, of the throwaway society that we've become.
MURASHIMA: Today, Prince-Ruiz estimates that millions of people will take part in Plastic Free July.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. I was pretty amazed when I read the stat from Our World in Data, that Americans on average use five pounds - five pounds - of plastic a week. I'm looking around at myself, Claire. I mean, I probably use that much in a week, too. So I think I might do it unconsciously because plastic is pretty much everywhere. So how are you preparing for this challenge?
MURASHIMA: It's certainly going to be a large adjustment for me and my lifestyle. Basically, my goal is not to buy any new plastic things. So when I go to the grocery store, I'm going to bring my own containers and go in the bulk section. I plan to completely cut out my food delivery habit, and when it's impossible to avoid buying a plastic thing, like food wrapped in plastic, I will try to make that food myself. I'm thinking here about my cheese stick habit. And they're wrapped in plastic, so I'm going to try to attempt to make my own cheese sticks, as well as granola bars.
MARTÍNEZ: Claire, I will be very proud of you if you can pull off making your own cheese. Now, did Rebecca Prince-Ruiz give you any tips on how to have a successful plastic-free week?
MURASHIMA: Yes - always have reusable containers nearby. She also told me not to do this challenge alone. So I've enlisted the help of a few friends, as well as my mom and dad and maybe A Martínez, MORNING EDITION host. And if this is your first time doing Plastic Free July, she says don't try to do everything at once.
MARTÍNEZ: Now, can you think of any situations in which it might be kind of impossible to avoid plastic because there's probably some - at least a few out there.
MURASHIMA: Yeah, I mean, maybe not impossible, but certainly a challenge. For example, I'm thinking about filling prescriptions, bringing a Mason jar to my pharmacist and just asking if they can do it in there. They might do it. They might not - stay tuned to find out.
MARTÍNEZ: All right. So will you come back in a week and tell us how you did?
MURASHIMA: Absolutely. And in the event that I do consume any new plastic, I'll bring it to the studio so we can do a little plastic audit of how much I consumed.
MARTÍNEZ: That is NPR's Claire "Plastic-Free" Murashima, about to embark on a plastic-free week. Claire, good luck.
MURASHIMA: Thanks, A. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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