Are you ready for Plastic Free July? Get set with our top tips

Nottingham is making fantastic progress to improving the environment through our work to become a carbon neutral city by 2028, but there is lots of work to be done.

One million plastic bottles are purchased every minute and up to five trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year.

While plastic has many helpful uses, we have a problem with single-use plastic that is used once then thrown away. About 400 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced each year, so what can we do to beat plastic pollution?

Communities around the world are concerned about the amount of plastic ending up in landfill and polluting our oceans. Each year more than 300 million people worldwide pledge to reduce plastic waste in July. Plastic Free July is a reminder that our actions to tackle plastic pollution matters.

There are loads of ways you can reduce your personal plastic use:

☕Bring a reusable coffee cup to your local café – in many places, you will also get a discount for ditching the disposables!

🧼Choose plastic free bathroom products like shampoo and soap bars. You can also take a container to a zero waste shop to refill it.

🍌Buy plastic free fruit and veg – look for loose fruit and veg in your supermarket or head to a market where you can avoid plastic more easily.

🥗Store your leftovers in sealed containers, reusable silicon food bags, or using beeswax wraps and silicon covers to avoid using cling film. You can start with containers you already have, but why not reuse things you already have like glass jars or takeaway containers?

🚰Take a reusable water bottle out with you and refill it for free at Refill stations across the city. Plastic bottles and their caps were in the top five items collected globally on beach clean ups, so this small switch can have a big impact.

🛒Shop at one of Nottingham's zero waste stores, where you can bring your own packaging and take home only the groceries

⭐Get involved in cleaning up our city further by joining our Nottingham Clean Champions. Picking up litter can prevent plastic ending up in our waterways.

♻Do a bin audit. Understanding the waste we’re creating can help to identify ways we could quickly change to make a big impact. For example, did you know that soft plastics like crisp packets can’t be put into your recycling bin but are often collected at supermarkets? Check what can be recycled in Nottingham on our website.

Find more tips on the Plastic Free July website and join more than 300 million people taking part in the challenge.