Green Skills Albany welcomed Rebecca Prince-Ruiz from Plastic Free July last Saturday morning to share her story of how she founded Plastic Free July and how to refuse single use plastic for a month. The Albany Community Enterprise Development Centre was packed to capacity with community members keen to learn how to reduce their waste. Check out the Plastic Free July website for how to pledge, tips to get started, answers to common dilemmas, resources, information about plastic issues and more. Rachel Pontin from Green Skills shared some local Great Southern resources including her blog Shoestring Sustainability, groups and places to shop.
Then we made a simple nut milk, using a recipe from Treading My Own Path, and had tastings. Several people in the room had never tried almond milk before. There was some discussion on how to buy milk in glass bottles, the environmental impact and recycling potential of glass versus plastic bottles, availability and cost comparisons. The agreement was that small dairies who are able to accept glass milk bottles for refilling are the best option, or making your own nut milk from bulk nuts, or finding another use for the glass bottles. Or finding a friend with a goat! Another option to keep costs down is to replace part of your weekly milk with glass bottles, instead of trying to swap over completely.
Participants also practiced folding newspaper bin bags, in preparation for the plastic bag ban next week. Find more resources and information about the bag ban here. Thanks to the City of Albany for supporting this workshop.
Rebecca brought a prerelease copy of The Rogue Ginger blogger, Erin Rhoads’, new book Waste Not, out in bookstores on July 1st. Ask your local bookstore to get it in. It’ll help you get through Plastic Free July as well as the plastic bag ban!
Are you going to do Plastic Free July this year? Download your plastic free starter kit here.