As plastic production increases exponentially and plastic pollution grows and the impacts on human health and human rights becomes more apparent every year, governments worldwide are negotiating a global treaty to end plastic pollution.

If we do not act and continue with business as usual, plastic pollution into the oceans is projected to quadruple by 2040, costing the world more than $100bn per year. 

To end plastic pollution, we cannot just rely on recycling or cleaning up our way out of this problem. Humans are using as much ecological resources as if we lived on 1.75 Earths. According to the UN Environment Programme, the common thread that runs through the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution, is unsustainable production and consumption.

This is where the annual challenge now known as Plastic Free July comes in. Started in the remote city of Perth, Western Australia with just 40 people in 2011, the challenge has grown to become a global social movement, inspiring and supporting millions of people to reduce and refuse single-use plastics.

The campaign tackles the problem at the source by “turning off the plastics tap” and does this by focusing on solutions and sharing ideas rather than raising awareness or education people. It has been our pleasure this year to have people from the greenworlder community joining the challenge, sharing ideas, supporting each other and together making a difference.

Our campaign motto “Small steps, big difference” speaks to the core of the approach. This isn’t about a few people being perfect and avoiding all single-use plastic (this is my 13th Plastic Free July and our family has made lots of changes over the years but we still find some plastic hard to avoid).

In the beginning people start by joining the challenge at Plasticfreejuly.org and then choosing one or two items to avoid and create new habits. From remembering reusable shopping bags, water bottles and coffee cups to refuse plastic straws, switching from liquid soap in plastic bottles to bar soap or choosing unpackaged produce, through our communities there are lots of ideas to try.

Once participants have started to make changes in their own lives and feel good about the waste they have avoided (and their trash bins less full), many choose to share the challenge by taking it into their community, workplaces and schools.

Our 2023 Impact Report shares the impact that these small steps create as well as stories from participants around the world. From schools in Nepal and Argentina to community groups in New Zealand, NGOs in Africa, businesses in Europe, sari sari stores in Manila and hotels across Asia, there are so many stories to inspire and empower. Indeed, one of my hardest jobs each year is selected just a few out of the thousands to include in our Impact Report.

Over the last decade, July has become the month on the global calendar to take action on plastic waste. Indeed, in 2023 US Senators introduced a resolution designating July as “Plastic Pollution Action Month”, joining dozens of municipalities around the world that have officially proclaimed July as 'Plastic Free July'. 

Big Picture Impact

• Over the last 5 years, hundreds of millions of participants have collectively avoided 10 billion kgs of waste, including 1.4 billion kgs of plastic, more than some of the world’s biggest clean-up efforts combined.
• The campaign has inspired 223 million behaviour changes, setting a benchmark for behaviour change projects.
• An average reduction of 18 kg in waste and recycling per person per year has been achieved, meaning an incredible 4.1% decrease in waste generation.
• Participants have strong social connections and a positive sense of well-being.

2023 Highlights

• An estimated 89 million individuals participated globally.
• Engagement reached over 190 countries.
• Workplaces (14,224), communities and schools (7,248), and cafes and retail stores (5,835) actively participated.
• 87% of participants made at least one lasting change.
• In 2023, participants reduced their households’:
• Non-recoverable waste by 900 million kg.
• Recyclable waste by 700 million kg.

These are amazing numbers that are hard to imagine – after all, we have nothing to show for “success”, just emptier bins and a cleaner environment. I feel honoured to have connected with so many people around the world who are taking part and making a difference – I know it adds up and has far reaching impact.

I’m delighted to be able to share just a few of the stories from people who participated in this year’s campaign:

• The Marriot in Hong Kong introduced a ‘Deplastify your Lunch” challenge, encouraging employees to adopt sustainable lunch habits that carry on outside the corporate lunchroom.
• New Zealand’s Wanaka Wastebusters galvanised local action, making and distributing reusable produce bags to foster plastic free choices at supermarkets.
• Manila’s “Kuha sa Tingi” initiative, a collaboration between Greenpeace Philippines and Impact Hub, has helped to provide ‘sari sari’ stores with refilling stations for common household-cleaning and personal-care products, to offer a sustainable community alternative to single-use sachets that are a frequently littered item.
• Atomic Energy Central School in India engaged young minds with a take-home activity that turned cloth bags into canvases, encouraging parents of the year 3 and 4 students to embrace reusable options over plastic.
• LAX airport banned the sale of plastic water bottles in July and Wimbledon switched to refillable bottles for players and introduced a reusable cup scheme for juices, reducing plastic waste during the tournament.

When people take action at this scale, it creates the community change that influences corporate and government policy, meaning our actions play an important role in creating the systemic change we need to end plastic pollution. 

We hope you will join millions of people reducing their plastic waste so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities. Will you choose to refuse single-use plastics?