Going Plastic Free Every Month, Not Just in July
Envato's sustainability committees share 10 tips for reducing plastic this Plastic Free July.
Being a B Corp, sustainability is close to our hearts. So this Plastic Free July, we’ve crowdsourced tips from the people behind our global employee sustainability committees, who are committed to reducing Envato’s reliance on plastics–and holding us all accountable.
Plastic has become one of the most harmful materials to our environment. From polluting oceans and harming wildlife to filling up landfills for decades without decomposing, this material has devastating short-term and long-term effects on our planet.
As a society, we’ve become increasingly dependent on plastic products, so shifting to living with less plastic (and, eventually, living plastic-free) can be challenging. This challenge is one reason this year’s theme for Plastic Free July is #choosetorefuse.
To help make the shift to a plastic-free lifestyle a little easier, here are ten tips from the sustainability committees at Envato that can inspire us to start or keep going with our efforts to reduce plastic use:
- Avoid using plastic straws, polystyrene food containers, plastic shopping bags, plastic cutlery, plates, bowls, and cups. (Shout out to the state of Western Australia, which recently banned these items and helium balloon releases!)
- Use composting bins, rainwater tanks, bulk coffee beans, and plastic-free toilet paper, and avoiding single-use snacking.
- Consider upcycling jars for food storage, vases, holding homemade candles, drinking glasses, and keeping your berries fresh.
- Always opt for reusable cups, mugs, or drink bottles.
- Swap out cling film for beeswax wraps or eco wraps.
- Swap to reusable mesh produce bags.
- Get a reusable baking mat instead of using disposable baking paper which is plastic coated).
- Switch your kitchen products – consider compostable sponges or coconut scourer pads for dishes.
- Refill your household bottled items instead of buying new ones.
- If plastics end up in your life, ensure you recycle them properly – e.g. via the soft plastic bins at most supermarkets.
And we have some new plastic-free wins to celebrate… this month and ongoing:
- Our Sprout coffee grounds are collected and donated to Melbourne Zoo for composting.
- We have a supply of glass jars at the Melbourne office to take home the sweet goodness of our very own Envato bees. Find out more about our beehive sponsorship with our friends at Backyard Honey.
- In the Envato Mexico office, we use water filters as opposed to the water cooler style tanks – though the conversations usually reserved for these areas keep flowing 😉 The team has also moved away from single-use plastic to store snacks, opt for almonds in dispensers and reusable containers, and even made their own fruit boxes from recycled wood – now that’s commitment.
As a purpose-led business, we publish an annual record of our impact achievements like these sustainability ones, so our entire community can share our journey together. Here’s a copy of our 2021 Annual Public Impact Statement; we’ll share more on this later in the year.
