July is celebrated with a challege to be plastic free. An organization called Plastic Free July asks people worldwide to be aware of the overuse of plastics in our day-to-day lives. You can accept the challenge to “refuse single-use plastic” all month long or for just a week or just a day.

Here are a few tips to succeed with this challenge:

• Carry picnic items in reusable containers from home. Use your cooler to take the “dirty dishes” home in.
• Use dishwasher safe, BPA-free drink bottles for water or your favorite beverage..
• Put the Keurig away for a while and make a pot of coffee the old-fashioned way
• Love your red plastic cup? There are glass and reusable-plastic versions at specialty stores.
• Carry snacks and other items to the beach in a cloth bag. Leak-proof zippered cosmetic bags are great for first aid and sunscreen items. Separate your snacks with paper bags.
• Ask for paper bags at the grocery store check out or carry a handful of cloth shopping bags. You can use the paper grocery bags at home to wrap gifts, mailings, school books or use as trash bags.
• Take small “lunch bag” sized bags to the grocery store when purchasing Produce.
• Some grocery stores may let you use Mason jars from home instead of using the deli plastic containers when you purchase by-the-pound salads.

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Look in your medicine cabinet to find ways to eliminate plastic. Facial cleansers, toothpaste and household cleansers may contain microbeads. These tiny beads of plastic get washed down the drain after each use and end up in our streams, lakes, rivers and oceans. Microbeads are not biodegradable and can harbor toxins that kill the marine life that ingest them.

What will you do to eliminate plastics in your life? Check out the website, PlasticFreeJuly.org for more ideas.

Take the plastic-free challenge and let me know how you do. I will, too.