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Plastic Free July: 5 Best Posts from the Month
What a month! Plastic Free July is always a great time of reflection on our personal plastic use and a time to gain more awareness of plastic’s impact on the environment. We’ve been reading a lot of great posts and articles online this month and have some of our favourites here to share with you. Plastic Free July Recap Last year for Plastic Free July, we walked through different rooms in our homes to find out where we were using plastic. It was an eye opening experience because plastic is everywhere! This year, we looked at some more niche areas of our lives to see how we could swap out…
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Plastic Free July: Plastic In Our Clothing
Take a peek into your closet – have you ever stopped to think about the plastic that might be hiding in your wardrobe? What are most of your clothes made of — are they synthetic or natural fibers? Do they have an elastic waistband or stretch material? Do they have plastic snaps, buttons, or zippers? It turns out there is a surprising amount of plastic in our clothes and it has a potentially larger impact on the environment than even straws or other single use plastics! Types of Fabric How often do you look at the fibre content in the label on your clothes? I grew up buying fabric and…
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Plastic Free July: Personal Care Products
So many of the personal care products we use are wrapped in plastic, stored in plastic, and even contain chemicals toxic to ourselves and our environment. However many of these products – such as foundation, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lipstick – are wrapped up in our identities. They help us to look how we want to look and we have long associations with brands, colours, and scents that make us feel ourselves. I (Krista) don’t wear a lot of makeup, but still have had a difficult time getting around transitioning from traditional eyeliner and mascara. However, as noted above, there are compelling reasons to consider alternatives that are better for us and…
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Getting Prepped and Ready for Plastic Free July
It’s hard to believe July is upon us again and that it is time for Plastic Free July! It feels like just yesterday we were sharing our 50 thoughts on plastic to start off last year’s Plastic Free July. We are excited to jump into our second ever Plastic Free July this year! What is Plastic Free July? Plastic Free July is a month long event that encourages people to examine their plastic use and to minimize plastic in everyday life. Plastic Free July started with a small group of people in Western Australia and has since become a part of the Plastic Free Foundation. Events are held worldwide with…
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Plastic Free Laundry Routine
How did you develop your laundry routine? Is it something that you’ve thought about or do you maybe do what your family did growing up? Maybe you are drawn to certain scents and make your detergent and dryer sheet decisions around that? That was certainly me! I gave very little thought to what my laundry routine might be doing to the materials I wore right next to my skin or to the environment that we all live within. That all changed after reading Slow Death By Rubber Duck about 10 years ago which caused me to start re-evaluating many of the products used in my home using the ThinkDirty app.…
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Plastic Free Bathroom
So Much Plastic Once you start looking, there is plastic everywhere! Shampoo and conditioner bottles, medicine bottles, make up containers, packaging, toilet paper packaging, toothpaste, toothbrushes… It can feel overwhelming to look at an extensive list of items that include plastic! My plastic free bathroom journey is still a work in progress. Things like pill or vitamin containers and even my hair comb are items that don’t look to be replaced in the short term. What matters most to me in this process is continuing to take steps forward. So here are some things I’ve been doing so far. Feminine Hygiene The Swap: Disposable Sanitary Pads for Reusable Cotton Pads…
