Plastic Free

In July 2011, Rebecca Prince-Ruiz challenged herself to go plastic free for the whole month. Starting with a small group of people in the city of Perth, the Plastic Free July movement has grown into a 250-million strong community across 177 countries, empowering people to reduce single-use plastic consumption and create a cleaner future.This book explores how one of the world’s leading environmental campaigns took off and shares lessons from its success. From narrating marine-debris research expeditions to tracking what actually happens to our waste to sharing insights from behavioral research, it speaks to the massive scale of the plastic waste problem and how we can tackle it together. Interweaving interviews from participants, activists, and experts, Plastic Free tells the inspiring story of how ordinary people have created change in their homes, communities, workplaces, schools, businesses, and beyond.It is easy to feel overwhelmed in the face of global environmental problems and wonder what difference our own actions could possibly make. Plastic Free offers hope for the future through the stories of those who have taken on what looked like an insurmountable challenge and succeeded in innovative and practical ways, one step—and one piece of plastic—at a time.

Plastic Free shows how one person’s actions can ripple out and cause good around the globe. Never has there been a more important time to share hope and action and combine them for our Mother Earth., Plastic Free July inspires me to step up my commitment to reducing single-use plastic in my daily life and on tour., Plastic Free shows us how to organize around our innate desire for a beautiful, clean environment and eventually change, in a fundamental way, the system that unnecessarily creates the ugly mess., Some people feel overwhelmed by the environmental state of affairs and wait for politicians or manufacturers to change; others, like Rebecca Prince-Ruiz, take matters into their own hands, starting with their own lives. This is the success story of a global movement. It proves that change is in consumers’ hands, that individual action has more power than ever. Use this book to be inspired, or, better, use it as a template to change the world in your own way!, The more time I spend at sea, the more I realize that the solutions start on land. This book will guide you on that journey to making global change for the ocean from your doorstep.

Rebecca Prince-Ruiz is the founder of Plastic Free July. An experienced environmental management and sustainability professional, she speaks internationally about how to achieve a world without plastic waste.Joanna Atherfold Finn is an editor and journalist. She is the author of the short story collection Watermark (2018) and has taught at the University of Newcastle.