Gloucestershire residents encouraged to go plastic-free in July
By Matt Hall | 4th July 2022
A new campaign being launched today aims to encourage people in Gloucestershire to reduce the amount of single-use plastic they use.
The campaign, called 'Plastic Free July', will also provide information to people on what reusable and plastic-free alternatives are available.
It has been launched by the Gloucestershire Resources and Waste Partnership, which is made up of Gloucestershire County Council and the district councils, and follows a campaign in June called 'Know Your Plastics' which aimed to increase the amount of plastic recycled correctly at kerbside.
The majority of plastic waste does not get reused and experts believe that 50 per cent of plastic is single-use, meaning it's designed to be used once before being discarded.
This has a huge environmental impact and is a contributor to climate change. Single-use plastics include items such as plastic water bottles, plastic packaging, plastic shopping bags and coffee cups.
The campaign will focus on parts of residents' lives that use a lot of single-use plastics and suggest alternatives including:
- Plastic-free kitchen ideas
- Beeswax wraps instead of clingfilm
- Buying loose instead of pre-packaged
- Plastic-free bathroom ideas
- Plastic-free beauty products, eg shampoo bars
- Plastic-free periods, eg period pants, menstrual cups and reusable tampon applicators
- On the go plastic-free
- Reusables such as cups, bottles, straws and pint 'glasses' to reduce single-use plastic alternatives
- Plastic-free gardens
- Promoting composting at home over buying compost in bags
- Upcycling (creating new objects from old items) and reusing plastic in the garden
Gloucestershire has lots of plastic-free shopping options, why not try your local market, farm shop or refill shop. Plastic Free July have collated a list of shops in Gloucestershire that sell mostly plastic-free items here http://www.actiononplastic.org/plastic-free-shopping/.
Cllr David Gray, cabinet member for environment and planning, said: "We are committed to creating a Greener Gloucestershire where plastic-free living and reusables are the norm. Reducing our reliance on single use plastics is paramount to a sustainable future in Gloucestershire for people and wildlife.
"There are many reusable or plastic-free alternatives you can use so I would encourage everyone to think about how they can reduce single-use plastic."
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