Results of our Plastic Free July 2019 Challenge and Commitment to Addressing a Climate Emergency - greengrub Wooden Toys and Puzzles takes Action
A Plastic Free Future for Australia; that's what we're aiming for!
Unfortunately here in Australia, at a government level, we are significantly lagging behind in tackling the climate emergency facing Us however as individuals we still have heaps we can do and reducing our consumption of plastics made from crude oil using fossil fuels is something as a community we have total control over.
The Australian born, and now Global, "Plastic Free July" campaign is over for another year but that won't stop our work in continuing to reduce plastic in our environment. According to the ABC's "War on Waste" series, Australian's generate 660 thousand tonnes of plastic waste per year, that's right PER YEAR and of this approximately 130 thousand tonnes ends up in waterways and our Oceans according to World Wildlife Fund (WWF). So we think it's time for ACTION to reduce plastic in our everday lives to secure a healthier future.
Given the above figures Plastic Free July 2019 was a huge success globally and particularly here in Australia where heaps of people, Institutions, Corporations and Councils took the challenge to look for alternatives to plastic and in most cases not buy plastic at all. This public influence will slowly drive change in manufacturing and retail supply chains and encourage a move away from plastics. Similar to the global movement from plastic toys towards more sustainable options like Traditional Wooden Toys and Puzzles such as those we stock in our online wooden toy store and jigsaw puzzle shop. Click HERE to check out our range.
A HUGE pat on the back to everyone involved as reducing plastic is part of the massive responsibility we all have to address the climate emergency now upon us.
Visit Plastic Free July's website by clicking HERE for some great idea's on what you can do to help.
So enough of the scary big picture stuff; here's what we managed to achieve this plastic free July to reduce our plastic use when we were out and about, in our own home environment and our family owned wooden toy and puzzle business:
- Eliminated cling wrap plastic wrap - we used re-usable plastic food containers for all left overs, open cheese blocks etc.
- Committed to NO Takeaway coffee cups - making sure we always have Keep Cups in the car and also carry them with us in our re-usable bags when going out on the bikes.
- Changed over to Bamboo Tooth Brushes including travel cases - make sure you don't buy the Supermarket ones though....they are wrapped in plastic :(
- Started buying all Screws, Nut's, Bolt, Washers etc loose (You can buy exactly the amount you need) from our local specialist in this stuff - Allfix Fasteners instead of those annoying plastic blister packs from big hardware
- Soap is now all Bar Soap with no plastic wrappers, except for the hand cleaner used in our Wooden Toy Workshop which comes in tins.
Wanting to reduce plastic in your family? Looking for Plastic Free Kids Toys?
Check out our EverEarth Bamboo Rocking Horse by clicking HERE.
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth so these Wooden Rocking Horses are super safe, sustainable and eco-friendly Wooden Toys. Providing YOUR Kids a Fun, bucking ride today and a bright healthy future.
In addition to the NEW ideas above for reducing plastic this Plastic Free July, here's some of our biggest changes we've made previously, how long we've been doing it and the estimate of the unnecessary plastic waste we've saved:
Idea to reduce plastic | How long we have been doing it? | Estimated plastic waste saved |
Bread - Baking our own | 12 years | 1,872 plastic wrappers (12 Yrs x 52 WkYr x 3 Loafs per Wk) |
Juice - Make our own fresh fruit and Veg Juice | 5 years | 520 2L plastic bottles (5 Yrs x 52 WkYr x 2 Bottles per Wk) |
Toys - Making & Buying only Wooden Toys | 6 years | Good quation - but none of our Wooden Toys have broken so that's NO WASTE in landfill. But if they did they are compostable, unlike plastic! |
Bags - Using only re-usable Shopping Bags | 10 years | 5,200 plastic Bags (10 Yrs x 52 WksYr x 10 Bags per Wk) |
Straws - Using only Stainless Steel Straws | 6 years | Lots!! Kids always want a Straw with their drink so can't calculate but would be be well over 1,000. |
Toilet Paper - Using only Brands with no plastic packaging (Our favourite is Bamboo from "Who gives a Crap") | 1 year | 52 plastic wrappers (1 Yr x 52 WksYr x 1 pack per Wk) We also Buy Bamboo (fastest growing plant on earth) toilet paper, a much more sustainable choice than wood pulp or recycled. |
It's so important to reduce our plastic consumption because according to ENF Australia currently has 22 plants recycling plastics but these only process approximately 12% of the total plastic thrown away each year according to WWF so we need to significantly reduce our use instead of relying on recycling which itself can be very energy intensive.
So in summary we need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle (Read about our Sustainability Pledge HERE) plastics in that order. We're looking forward to Plastic Free July 2020 and coming up with even more ideas to reduce plastic.
Thanks to all our Customers who Support our Sustainability Journey, and have shared their own Stories of Action. If you would like to share Yours email Us your Plastic Free July Stories by clicking HERE.
Visit our family owned online Wooden Toy Store and Puzzle Shop for Plastic Free, Hand Picked, Educational Wooden Toys and Jigsaw Puzzles.