Ditch the plastic – go Plastic Free July

City of Armadale residents looking to take on a challenge are encouraged to ditch the plastic for Plastic Free July to reduce the amount of plastic going into landfill.

The Plastic Free July challenge aims to raise awareness of the amount of single-use disposable plastic in our lives and challenges people to reduce the use of plastic during July.

The City of Armadale Mayor Henry Zelones, OAM JP said the challenge is a great opportunity for residents to attempt to look at their plastic use and look at different ways they can make positive changes in their lives to reduce waste to landfill.

“Changes can be big or small, for a day, a week or the whole month and can include taking your own reusable coffee cup when buying coffee on the way to work, using glass or stainless steel containers in the pantry at home, or use an eco-friendly bag to carry your groceries in.”

Each year Western Australians use around 100 kilograms of plastic packaging per household. This plastic is used to wrap food, carry shopping, for takeaways, straws and for convenience.

“Wholesale change may not happen overnight, but each of us can make changes in our lives to reduce our plastic footprint.”

For a few minutes of convenience, the plastic stays around for decades with negative impacts including pollution on land and aquatic environments, resource depletion and filling up limited space available in landfills.

“To motivate residents to make changes to their plastic consumption, the City is hosting two workshops in July; Lose waste – getting started with zero waste living and Wasteless Pantry.

“I encourage residents interested in learning handy tips to reduce their plastic consumption and reduce waste, to attend one of the free workshops. Together, we can all make a difference,” said Mayor Zelones.

For information and handy tips on how to refuse single-use plastic visit www.plasticfreejuly.org. You can also find tips on cutting household waste on www.switchyourthinking.com.