Preparing for Plastic Free July 2026

Plastic Free July 2026 is only a few weeks away! It’s a great time to start thinking about not only how you want to participate this year but also about the plastic that keeps sneaking back into our lives.

What is Plastic Free July?

Plastic Free July is a global environmental campaign that encourages people to reduce their use of single-use plastics during the month of July and beyond. It began in 2011 in Western Australia and has since grown into one of the world’s largest plastic waste reduction movements, inspiring millions of participants across nearly 190 countries.

Plastic Free July is a chance for people to learn practical ideas for reducing plastic and about resources to help in making changes. The goal of Plastic Free July as an organization is to raise awareness about plastic pollution and show how small, everyday actions can collectively help create cleaner streets, healthier oceans, and more sustainable communities.

But it is more than just an organization. Plastic Free July is a movement. People all around the world rally for the month of July to share tips and inspiring stories all in an effort to save our planet. It’s one of my favourite sustainable challenges because of the community that comes together during the month.

How to Start Preparing for Plastic Free July 2026

Now’s the time to decide how you want to participate in Plastic Free July 2026. The great thing is that you can go all in or just take one day at a time at your own pace. In the weeks leading up to Plastic Free July, it’s a great time to take stock of your own personal situation and decide what July will look like for you.

Get Inspired

Look into stories in your community and around the world, like these ones below, where individuals and communities are coming together to create big change.

1. Pat Smith and The Final Straw Cornwall

After discovering large amounts of plastic litter on beaches near her home in Cornwall, England, Pat Smith launched The Final Straw Cornwall, a grassroots campaign encouraging local businesses and residents to reduce single-use plastics. What started with one person’s concern for her local environment grew into a community-wide movement that helped hundreds of businesses adopt plastic-free alternatives and inspired similar initiatives across the United Kingdom.

Read more here: https://visitcornwalltraveltrade.com/final-straw-campaign-pat-smith-from-bosinver-farm-cottages

2. The Azulita Project’s Community-Led Plastic Reduction Efforts

The Azulita Project works with communities in Arizona and along Mexico’s Pacific coast to reduce plastic pollution through education, reusable product programs, recycling initiatives, and local environmental projects. What began as a grassroots volunteer effort has grown into a broader movement that empowers communities to take practical action against plastic waste while building local environmental awareness.

Read more here: https://www.azulitaproject.org/about

3. The Dawoodi Bohra Community’s Plastic-Free Event Initiative

During a large annual gathering in Surat, India, the Dawoodi Bohra community replaced thousands of single-use plastic water bottles with refill stations, reusable containers, and a “Bring Your Reusable Bottle” campaign. The effort prevented the use of more than 26,000 plastic bottles per day and demonstrated how even large events can dramatically reduce waste through thoughtful planning and community participation.

Read more here: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/bohra-communitys-refill-drive-makes-annual-event-plastic-free/articleshow/124430912.cms

Get Aware

Take a look around your home and find out where plastic is showing up in your life. This is a great time to do a waste audit which will show you where your main sources of plastic are from. Even if you’d done these things before, it is worth doing again. You can see how far you’ve come and also what areas still need some progress.

Some ways to get aware of your personal plastic use:

• Do a waste audit;
• Check your recycle bin and include a waste audit of this;
• Choose one room and do an inventory of all the plastic in it;
• Look closely at a regular daily routine (like packing your lunch) and identify any unnecessary plastic

Get Knowledgeable

Plastic. We hear about how bad it is all of the time, but since it’s such a broad topic may not know the details. Now is a great time to dig into some articles and learn more about what plastic is and what plastic does.

If you’re looking for a place to start, here are some of our blog posts that look into plastic with a bit more detail:

How to Face Overwhelming Climate Change Topics Like Plastic

The hidden cost of convenience: Types of plastic pollution and their impact

Looking into the Life Cycle of Plastic

8 Types of Plastic to Know About

More Inspiration for Plastic Free July 2026

As I mentioned, we love Plastic Free July, so there’s no shortage of inspiration found here. We’ve talked about everything from gardening to toilet paper to cold remedies when it comes to going plastic free.

Check out some of these posts for more inspiration–or just click on our Plastic Free tag and you’ll have loads to look through!

31 Plastic Free Swaps for Plastic Free July

How to go Plastic Free with your Toilet Paper

Plastic Free July: Gardening

6 Plastic-Free Cold Remedies for Natural Relief

Let’s keep in touch! Sign up to receive email updates from A Sustainably Simple Life below:

We’d love to add you to our monthly email list! Send us an email with “Subscribe” in the subject line to asustainablysimplelife [at] gmail.com or fill out the form here: Subscribe to A Sustainably Simple Life

You can unsubscribe at any time.