Plastic Free July: How We’re Taking Action to End Plastic Waste
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In Canada, over 3 million tonnes of plastic waste is thrown away every year. About 50% of the plastic waste consists of single-use plastic items which are used for only a few minutes and thrown away. This includes straws, coffee stir sticks, water bottles, snack bags, and more. This waste unfortunately ends up in landfills, our environment, and our oceans. At Nest Designs, we’ve made an effort to reduce our carbon footprint including the use of single-use plastics. That’s why we've joined the Plastic Free July movement and are taking action to end single-use plastic waste.
Plastic Free July
Plastic Free July is a global movement that was created by the Plastic Free Foundation. Since 2011, they’ve been working to make the world plastic waste free. Millions of people around the world join this challenge every year in July to end their use of single-use plastic waste in their homes, work, and community.
Being Part of the Solution at Nest Designs
We want to be part of the solution at Nest Designs. From reducing our carbon footprint to our use of single-use plastics, our team makes a conscious effort every day because we want future generations to be able to enjoy the earth’s beauty.
Individual product packaging is a necessary part of what we do because we need to keep our products safe for you and your family. However, we quickly realized when we started about the impact of individual product packaging - something we consider as a single-use plastic item. We have chosen to use EcoPure® to package our products. EcoPure® is made from a blend of organic ingredients and added to plastic packaging. When added to plastic packaging, it makes it fully biodegradable. It also produces carbon dioxide, safe biogas, and biomass when it breaks down, unlike the toxic chemicals plastic produces.
Nest Friends
The idea for our Nest Friends sparked when we were thinking of creative ways to reuse cardboard. We wanted something that parents and caregivers could do with their kids. Every season, we create new Nest Friends for you and your bubs to enjoy and play with. These cut-and-make characters are a fun way to engage in pretend play and talk about how the animals are being impacted by climate change.
Our SS22 Nest Friends include Seymour the Sea Lion, Sally the Seagull, Herbie the Hermit Crab, and Titan the Tiger.
Our SS22 Charity Partner: Ocean Conservatory
Did you know that 80 to 90 percent of the waste found in Canada's marine environment is plastic waste? Even though you might not live near a river, lake, or ocean, your waste might still end up in the marine environment. This is because plastic waste can be blown into a river or lake or go down a storm drain and be washed into the ocean. Plastic waste can affect the ocean and its marine animals by contaminating the water, damaging their habitats, being eaten and harming them, or being entangled in them.
This season, a portion of our profits are being donated to our charity partner, Ocean Conservatory. They are a non-profit organization that works to protect the ocean and its wildlife. The Ocean Conservatory has many initiatives such as Trash Free Seas to eliminate waste from the ocean. This initiative includes the International Coastal Cleanup®, research on how garbage is affecting the marine environment and sharing this with scientists, the public, and policymakers, and educating people and businesses to help eliminate ocean waste.
From their research, plastic has been found in 59% of seabirds, 100% of sea turtles, and 25% of the fish that have been sampled.
Get Your Kids Involved!
There is hope! You and your family can be the solution to end plastic waste too. With climate change and global warming on the rise, it is important that we teach kids the impacts of all plastic including single-use plastics. Although using the single-use plastic item may seem convenient at the moment, it isn’t the best solution for our planet in the long run.
If you’re ready to be a part of the Plastic Free July challenge, here are some ways you can get your kids involved.
For more ways to reduce your use of plastics, check out Plastic Free July’s next steps.
As a company, we know that we can have a big impact on the environment. That’s why we try to be conscious of what and how we’re doing business. By using biodegradable plastic packaging and choosing more eco-friendly fabrics, we hope our carbon footprint stays small.
And you can too. If you have already started reducing your use of single-use plastics at home, we would love to hear about it! Let us know in the comments below if you’ll be committing to one of our ideas above or if you have another one to share!