Help celebrate Plastic Free July and join our competition!

When plastic came along in the 1900s, it revolutionised packaging. It has unfortunately also become one of the greatest threats to our environment.

To prevent plastic ending up in our environment the best thing we can do is to avoid it.

Help celebrate Plastic Free July with us by sharing a photo of how you’re avoiding single use plastic and be in the running to win one of three zero-waste prizes.

To enter the Plastic Free July DIY competition, simply upload a photo (up to five accepted) of your creative item, along with a description of what it is and how it avoids, reuses or reduces plastic. Items can be an artwork, toy or DIY project.

Why not reuse an empty large plastic soft drink or water bottle and make your very own terrarium, or upcycle an old t-shirt into a tote bag for shopping.

The competition will take place during the month of July and entries must be submitted online by Friday 31 July.

Winners will be selected from a random draw. First prize drawn will receive a zero-waste hamper valued at $150. There are also other prizes to be won. The winning entries will be announced on Friday 7 August.

Plastic Free July began in 2011 as a local initiative in Perth, Western Australia and has grown into a global project with countries around the world joining forces to reduce, and hopefully one day eliminate the use of single-use plastics.

The campaign is also part of a global push to improve recycling habits by sharing solutions to become part of a wider movement for change.

Mayor Cr Mike Symon, Council’s representative on the Metropolitan Local Government Waste Forum, is encouraging the community to get behind the Plastic Free July initiative by entering Council’s competition and committing to go plastic-free for one month.

“As custodians of our earth we must do everything we can to reduce our own environmental impact. One of the easiest ways to reduce our impact is to reduce our waste. Plastic is considered one of the worst environmental pollutants as it never breaks down,” Cr Symon said.

“It’s staggering to think that every bit of plastic ever made still exists and that in the first 10 years of this century the world economy produced more plastic than during the whole of last century,” he said.

On average, Maroondah’s household garbage bin accounts for 8 per cent of non-recyclable plastic such as plastic bags and soft plastic packaging, while the average household recycle bin is made up of 3.5 per cent of non-recyclable plastic.

“Fortunately, through initiatives such as Plastic Free July we are now making concerted efforts to raise awareness, and to lessen plastic’s detrimental effects on the environment,” Cr Symon said.

“By reducing your plastic waste to the garbage and recycle streams we can reduce the environmental impacts caused by plastic,” he said.

Residents can also take the pledge and commit to reducing their everyday waste by reusing shopping bags, coffee cups, straws, produce bags, water bottles, or switching from plastic to biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes.

For details on how to enter, including terms and conditions, visit our

Some of the most harmful plastics – known as the ‘big 4’ – are the easiest to replace.

Every year, Australians use 2.7 billion take-away coffee cups. Imagine the impact we could make if we all chose to bring our own coffee cup when we grabbed our daily dose of caffeine.

The common misconception is that these can be recycled because they appear to be made of paper. However, take-away coffee cups usually have a plastic lining that makes them unrecyclable.

Billions of plastic water bottles are used every year, yet only 1 in 5 of these bottles gets recycled.

While recycling is great, it should always come second to reducing. Instead, try and avoid buying plastic water bottles and use or reuse an old water bottle, preferably one that’s made of glass.

The lifespan of a plastic bag is an average 12 minutes, and Australians use over 4 billion of these each year. Globally, a trillion plastic bags are used on an annual basis.

Marine turtles love to munch on jellyfish, and often mistake plastic bags for their favourite food. Sadly, hundreds of thousands of animals have died after ingesting plastic.

Switch to using canvas tote bags, which can be used over and over again. Make sure you keep them in your car or near the door so they’re always handy when heading out to do your shopping.

Plastic straws are one of the top 10 most picked up items on beach cleans. Australians use 2.7 billion plastic straws every year. Because straws are too small to be easily recycled, they often end up as litter on our beaches and in our oceans.

Make a personal commitment to say “no” to plastic straws the next time you order a drink. Encourage your friends and family to take the pledge too.

For further information on Plastic Free July and how to reduce your plastic waste, visit the