Over Half Done

From the title you probably thought I was going to show a quilt or knitted item but I'm referring to the year. Here it is July 1st. Can you believe it, half the year gone.

I did want to share with you that it is 

That's right

A few year back this started in Australia and has now become global. It is a conscience awareness of our use of plastic. The use of plastic is so common, most of us overlook how much we do use.

So there's a Challenge

The challenge is quite simple. Attempt to refuse single-use plastic during July. 

"Single-use" includes plastic shopping bags, plastic cups, straws, plastic packaging...basically anything that's intended only to be used once and then discarded. If refusing ALL single-use plastic sounds too daunting this time, try the TOP 4 challenge (straws, plastic bags, plastic bottles & coffee cup lids).

The rules

1. Attempt to refuse single-use plastic during July.
2. Remember it's not going to be easy! It is a challenge, not a competition so don't worry about being perfect.
3. Collect any unavoidable single-use plastic you buy. Keep in a dilemma bag and share it with us at the end of the challenge.
4. It's up to you regarding how long you participate. You might decide to go plastic-free for a day, a week, a month or longer! However long you choose will still make a contribution.

Why you should participate

• Apart from the small amount of plastic which has been incinerated EVERY piece of plastic which was ever produced still exists on earth somewhere. In the first 10 years of this century MORE plastic was produced than the entire last century!
• Australians send 1 million tonnes of plastic waste to landfill each year.
• Americans discard about 33.6 million tons of plastic each year, but only 6.5 percent of it is recycled and 7.7 percent is combusted in waste-to-energy facilities, which create electricity or heat from garbage.(source http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2012/01/31/what-happens-to-all-that-plastic/)
• Do your part to make a change.
• Why use something for a few seconds that is going to spend the rest of your life trying to break down in landfill? We really need to change our habits.

For more info you can go to http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/ or do a search of your own on google for other info on the topic going plastic free.

My thoughts are that I would take the challenge and like suggested I will collect what I do use and save till the end of the month and do a show and tell.

But until than I will share throughout the month ideas, patterns and other finds on how to replace or use less plastic.

You up to the Challenge with me.

hope you do and leave a thought in comments 

I love to hear yours.