Plastic Free July You can make a difference!
Week 1 - "I will eliminate single use straws this week!"
Environmental Forum
For many years, our forum has been working to educate the community through the Plastic Free July program. Plastic Free July was established in 2011 and has done a lot to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic waste and its impact on the environment and health. You can sign up for the Plastic Free July Challenge on their website. What many of our forum members report is that these changes that they made in July were easy to continue throughout the year.
This month our focus is on convincing you that "You can make a difference!" We are sometimes asked, "I'm just one person. How can my simple action help when everyone else uses these plastics?" What we find is that our actions often stimulate a discussion about how easy it is for people to make these changes. Others see your behavior and learn to understand that just being a role model spreads change. Try it and see! And remember that Earth Day started in 1970 as a simple call to action for college campus students. Its reach has slowly changed to a worldwide effort today.
For the first week in July we are asking you to stop using single-use straws at home and when you are out. Here are some reasons to stop using them:
There are plenty of alternatives for them, including reusable straws like these and switching to a reusable water bottle with a straw when you are out. These water bottles have straws.
Take the QC Straw Free Challenge and forgo the use of straws for at least this first week of July!
We should love to hear your feedback after trying this. You can contact me at the link below or reply to this blog post. Good luck and have fun!
Susan Leuthauser
For many years, our forum has been working to educate the community through the Plastic Free July program. Plastic Free July was established in 2011 and has done a lot to raise awareness about the dangers of plastic waste and its impact on the environment and health. You can sign up for the Plastic Free July Challenge on their website. What many of our forum members report is that these changes that they made in July were easy to continue throughout the year.
This month our focus is on convincing you that "You can make a difference!" We are sometimes asked, "I'm just one person. How can my simple action help when everyone else uses these plastics?" What we find is that our actions often stimulate a discussion about how easy it is for people to make these changes. Others see your behavior and learn to understand that just being a role model spreads change. Try it and see! And remember that Earth Day started in 1970 as a simple call to action for college campus students. Its reach has slowly changed to a worldwide effort today.
For the first week in July we are asking you to stop using single-use straws at home and when you are out. Here are some reasons to stop using them:
- Single-use straws are used for a few minutes then discarded, where they’ll remain in the environment indefinitely
- They are lightweight and easily blown down drains and into waterways, rivers and oceans
- Straws can become stuck in the airways of animals, or if mistaken for food and ingested can be fatal
- Together, we can get straws out of the top 10 list of items collected in beach cleanups
There are plenty of alternatives for them, including reusable straws like these and switching to a reusable water bottle with a straw when you are out. These water bottles have straws.
Take the QC Straw Free Challenge and forgo the use of straws for at least this first week of July!
We should love to hear your feedback after trying this. You can contact me at the link below or reply to this blog post. Good luck and have fun!
Susan Leuthauser
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