#12challengePLASTIC
“We may be little fish compared to multibillion-dollar corporations, but little fish can swim together in the same direction.” -Marcus Eriksen, Junk Raft
We all know single-use plastic has become a serious problem. Need proof? Just look outside as you walk, drive and go about your daily life. Google “ocean plastic” and you will see waves of plastic trash, deserted islands populated by our garbage, sea life filled with plastic instead of food. Only a tiny portion of recyclable plastic is actually recycled.
“Only 9.4 percent of all discarded plastics were recycled in the United States in 2014…or down-cycled, that is, as plastics generally can be remade only into lower value products. The solution to our plastic problem is not to recycle more, it is to consume less plastic.”
- Chantal Plamondon & Jay Sinha, Life Without Plastic
Buy joining together to break free from plastic, we send a bigger message upstream to the plastic producers, and can make a big impact on our stressed environment. While we definitely do need to recycle more, and recycle well, cutting back on our plastic usage is essential.
Going single-use plastic free doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
Taking things step by step makes reducing your plastic consumption so much easier, whether you choose just a few plastic products to cut back on or try to break the plastic habit all around.
You know what makes it even easier? Doing it in community.
Join us starting in June as we take the #12challengePLASTIC and work together month by month to reduce our plastic footprint. We will start slowly each month by noticing certain plastic products in our everyday lives. Then we will move on to small steps to cut back on plastic by making easy choices. We will then begin building habits to make plastic-free living, in whatever form that takes for you, a more permanent part of our lives. No rules, no guilt, just steps and effort tailored to your preferences and abilities.
Each month, I will post here about the Plastic Challenge for the month, then interact and join together each day on The Clean Up Project’s Facebook page, with tips, suggestions, conversations and more.
Feel free to jump in anytime. We will start summer off right with June as Month 1, when many of us have a little more free time to try something new.