Plastic Free July
The Plastic Free July campaign is counter productive because it demonises a specific material, which is not the cause of our waste crisis.
The 9R’s below are a practical framework that will actually reduce impact.
To avoid climate disaster, we must reduce material use throughout supply chains, use things much longer and have better waste management systems for end of life.
I'm aware this doesn’t roll off the tongue as easy 😳 but tides are changing with influential organisations switching rhetoric from banning plastic to single use.
Also, stories about the value of packaging (e.g. why cucumbers are shrink wrapped) appear to be sticking in the mind.
I’m not advocating resting on our laurels. Far from it. I work tirelessly everyday to make reuse mainstream. And much more innovation is required to solve our complex waste crisis.
But oversimplifying the issue is counterproductive. And it’s taking up bandwidth in an already limited conversation.