Plastic Free July

How to go plastic free

Going plastic free can feel like a big and expensive journey, but even small changes can help make a difference. Focus on simple swaps and substitutes and when you have to use plastic, always reuse or repurpose.    

Council tips and tricks

• Shop at bulk food stores such as Mad Wholefoods in Summer Hill, Village Wholefoods in Marrickville and The Source in Balmain. The Well Store in Rozelle sells bulk cleaning products.
• Avoid soft drink bottles by making your own with a soda maker/carbonator.
• Line your rubbish bin without a plastic bag. You can use paper or leftover cardboard to line your bin. Placing food scraps in your compost or FOGO bin should remove most wet/damp waste from your general rubbish bin.
• Consider repurposing old utensils for a travel cutlery kit (use existing cutlery in a small cloth bag instead of purchasing new reusable cutlery).
• Instead of plastic sponges or paper towels wrapped in plastic, try a Swedish dish cloth for a low cost, reusable option. 

Your tips and tricks

• "We have tried to eliminate plastic packaging in a lot of our cleaning products. We use soap nuts for our clothes washing, shampoo and conditioner bars and make our own dishwasher tablets and multipurpose cleaning spray." 
  Anna from Leichhardt

• "I bought my kids a really good quality metal lunchbox each for school. We don't have to replace them each year as they can just continue to use them." 
  Jess from Balmain

• "Reusable nappies! They're hard work but we've saved many nappies from landfill!" 
  Sophia from Summer Hill

Find out more

Visit the official Plastic Free July website - Will you be part of Plastic Free July by choosing to refuse single-use plastics?

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment recently published the New South Wales Plastics Action Plan