To take the next step in my waste reduction journey, this year I decided to participate in the Plastic Free July Challenge. It was an eye-opening exercise – a lot more difficult than I anticipated. In this Plastic Free July wrap-up post, I’ll reflect on my observations and learnings from the month.

The goal of the challenge is to eliminate single-use plastic. If you’ve been following along, you’ve heard examples of the difficulties I encountered. Here are links to my previous updates if you missed them.

• Plastic Free July – Week 1 update
• Plastic Free July – Week 2 update
• Plastic Free July – Week 3 update
• Plastic Free July – Week 4 update

Plastic-Free July Wrap Up – 10 learnings and observations

Plastic shows up in unexpected places

I was shocked at how much “sneaky plastic” is out there. From plastic bags inside cardboard boxes, to plastic labels on produce, every time I would turn around, I’d see more plastic.

It’s important to be vigilant and scrutinize everything you buy. Even then, there can be surprises!

Change gets progressively harder

Over the last year and a half, I’ve made a lot of changes to reduce waste. Although these adjustments took some effort, most of them haven’t been hugely inconvenient. This challenge taught me that continued progress will be much more difficult.

The key point here is, if everyone put in some effort to make the easy changes, it would make a huge difference. Plastic would be a lot less of a problem. I’ve shared this quote before but I think it’s worth repeating because it’s so true.

We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly, we need millions of people doing it imperfectly.

Anne Marie Bonneau, Zero Waste Chef

If you’re not ready to go all in, join me as one of the imperfect millions!

Real change has to start at the source

We still have a lot of work to do. My biggest disappointment was finding things that were previously packaged differently, that are now in plastic. We clearly need to put pressure on manufacturers to make changes to their packaging. They need to be accountable for their packaging from cradle to grave. As I wrote in Why aren’t all bottles refundable?, we’ve had so much success in Ontario with returning beer bottles. Why not expand this to other products?

If companies won’t do the right thing on their own, then perhaps governments need to step in and provide incentives or apply penalties.

The pandemic has made it harder to be plastic free

From the (hopefully) temporary pause on BYOC programs to restaurants offering only takeout food, the pandemic restrictions are definitely having an impact. Unfortunately, I expect these changes will be with us for a while.

While I ‘ve tried to adjust my own behaviour to lessen the effect of my consumption, I’m not ready to venture to the farmer’s market yet. Even though I know this is a much more eco-friendly option, I am reluctant to shop there because they are so crowded and physical distancing will be difficult. That’s especially disappointing this time of year when there is so much fresh, local produce in season. Even pick-your-own berry farms are using plastic containers this year.

Let’s hope things look more normal in 2021.

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Food packaging is the most difficult to avoid

This challenge opened my eyes to the success I’ve had eliminating plastic in personal care and household products. Food packaging is the last area where I see a lot of work to be done. A quick trip around the supermarket confirms that plastic is so hard to avoid.

Home cooking isn’t plastic free

Convenience and snack foods have a bad reputation for excessive packaging, and rightfully so. But, I learned that even home baking and home cooked meals usually involve plastic in some of the ingredients. Although, I have to admit that home cooking is still a better option from a nutrition and also a cost perspective.

Buying in bulk is a better choice

Even though I can’t use my own containers, I continue to shop at the bulk food store. I think it’s important to support these businesses so they don’t become the next casualties of the pandemic. Bulk purchases, even in plastic bags, result in far less waste than pre-packaged products.

As an added bonus, because you buy only the quantity you need, buying in bulk means less food waste than other grocery options.

Technology helps

Love it or hate it, technology can help cut down on waste, especially in the entertainment area. Music and video streaming services have pretty much eliminated CDs and DVDs, both of which are made of plastic and usually come in plastic cases.

If you can’t eliminate, reduce!

No matter how hard you try, there will be plastic you can’t eliminate. For example, I’m not willing to give up things like cheese and yogurt because of the plastic packaging. What I will do is look for alternatives to reduce my use. I got creative this month and found several alternatives to yogurt to thicken my smoothies. I’ll continue doing that.

Another idea is to buy the largest container possible. A large container will always contain less plastic than multiple smaller ones. So look for the big tub of yogurt instead of the individually packaged single-serving sizes.

Celebrate the wins

No-one is perfect and I definitely didn’t expect to be. Despite the challenges, we need to acknowledge and celebrate every small win.

We should also spread the word when we learn new things. That’s why I started this blog last year and something I am still committed to.

My next steps

I definitely learned a lot from doing the Plastic Free July Challenge. Now I have a new list of things to research and try. As I learn new tips, I’ll be sure to write about them.

What changes did you make this Plastic Free July? Tell us about them below.