July is here and so is the Plastic Free July.  We are halfway through the year, the best time to review our goals and see if we are on track.

2020 has been an unusual year so far with the ongoing pandemic. Our way of life has changed dramatically. To avoid spreading the COVID 19 virus many of us started using plastic disposable gloves, disposable masks. Our shopping even changed. The stores didn’t accept reusable bags at one point, some still don’t. The bulk section of the regular stores is either closed or everything is prepackaged in plastic bags.

Unfortunately, the pandemic added and keeps adding a lot of waste to the landfill. I can’t say it’s an unnecessary waste as the personal protective equipment is necessary to keep us all safe.  But to offset that waste we need to be even more accountable for the waste we are creating in our homes.

Here are a few simple ways I can think of.

Reusable Masks

If you are not a health care professional there is no need for you to use disposable masks. Invest in a couple of reusable masks and wash them frequently.  Using reusable masks you want to make sure each member of the family has his/her own mask. Keep the masks in a proper pouch. Our snack bag makes a perfect mask keeper. If you don’t have a snack bag any small purse or pouch will do, just make sure it has been cleaned and sanitized.

Reusable Cutlery

A lot of restaurants are offering take out instead of dine-in. Support your favourite restaurant by ordering takeout. When you place your order check if they accept your reusable container instead of their disposable. Something you always have control over is using your own cutlery. We always have a set of our reusable cutlery for each member of the family in their favourite utensil bag in the car. That is just in case we want to stop somewhere for a takeout spontaneously.

Reusable Straws

The other thing we have total control over in pandemic is refusing disposable straws. Same this I do have 4 straws in one of our straw bags in the car ready for when we are ready for a drink. We also have a few extra ones at home for when we bring anything home.

I’m sure there are tons of other things that we can do to reduce our plastic waste. These are just the simplest one that can be done in a matter of seconds without too much work or compromise.

We are running a Plastic Free July challenge/contest on Instagram and Facebook.