As Plastic Free July comes to an end, here are some takeaways from DEC campaign participants Kayla and Nasibah.

Kayla’s Goal: Reduce plastic meal packaging, beverage jugs, and toiletries

• Simple Swap Success – Reusable Storage Bags and Stretch Lids: “I started using freezer safe reusable silicone food storage bags and stretch lids. The reusable stretch lids are perfect for when all of your food storage containers are being used. You can just pop a reusable lid over your dish or bowl and you’re done! The reusable food storage bags and lids are easy to use and come in a variety of sizes and material types. If you’re tight on storage space, both are slim and don’t take up a lot of room in refrigerators or cabinets. I definitely recommend trying them out!”

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As the Plastic Free July challenge winds down, DEC has an update on how their participants are faring with their own personal goals. Here are some of the creative things they have been doing:

Kayla’s Goal: Reduce plastic meal packaging, beverage jugs, and toiletries

“One of my goals during Plastic Free July was finding and using sunscreen that doesn’t come in a plastic tube or bottle. After a lot of research I found the choices were limited, so I decided to contact sunscreen companies to start a conversation about their packaging. I personalized and tailored each correspondence, making sure to research the company beforehand to include persuasive facts about their sustainability practices and sunscreen usage facts in general. I contacted…

• Four major sunscreen brands and another major skin care brand that offers sunscreen and focuses on sustainability. Within a few hours, I received general replies from three of these companies. A few days later I received a similar reply from the fourth company.
• A smaller sunscreen company with sustainability in mind. They informed me of positive strides they’ve made with their sunscreen containers, such as incorporating post-consumer recycled content, and challenges they faced in moving away from plastic packaging. I now plan to delve into this further as it may be part of the reason why plastic packaging is so prevalent for sunscreen. They were also open to future suggestions about this topic.
• A small business that offers plastic free options. They don’t sell sunscreen yet but informed me of their interest in reducing their plastic use potentially through offering a refill option.

Prior to this experience, I had never directly contacted a company about environmental issues and found it to be inspiring, especially when I heard back, and would encourage others to do the same. I always thought, ‘they’ll never listen to me’, but my experience showed me companies are willing to listen and share thoughts and experiences to start a conversation in an effort to make positive changes for the future of our environment.”

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