Plastic Free July Prayer
Dear Lord,
May you guide us to care for this earth and treat it with the love with which it was created. Allow us to preserve it for future generations. To reduce our plastic consumption. To reuse what we already have. To recycle what no longer serves a purpose. May we do this for a better world so that we can fulfil our purpose as stewards of the earth and the animals within it. Amen.
Ruby, Year 10
Through Iona Presentation College
Knowledge
July’s editions of YLBG will be focused on Plastic Free July. I hope you will join us by examining your plastic use and make a difference with your actions.
I thought our last Plastic Free July edition of YLBG could focus on alternatives to plastic. There are many ways you can begin to eliminate plastic. It’s a big change, but getting started is easy, and the options are always expanding.
Remember, there is no such thing as disposable plastic! Just because you can put it in the garbage or recycling, it doesn’t mean you have disposed of it. Recycled items are made into something else, but it’s still here. Plastic in a landfill will sit for 100s of years, breaking down into microplastics and flowing into food and water systems. Even biodegradable plastics only break down if sent to an industrial composter.
As we bring Plastic Free July to a close, I hope you will carry on the things you learned and any new habits you have formed. Let’s turn off the plastic tap and make our world cleaner and less toxic for our children.
Action
So many options!
Personal:
How did you do this week for the Plastic Free July Challenge? What can you change for week 4?
Professional:
How can you reduce or eliminate plastic where you work? How about forever giving up Styrofoam?
In the world:
Our personal choices are important. But, large scale change will come when corporations and politicians are on board. Think of how much plastic is used in our online shopping. How can we reduce/eliminate plastic in shipping? There are great paper options being designed. But we have to demand the option to choose them.
Our own Plastics Taskforce is working on actions and solutions. Email us at [email protected]