Plastic Free July Challenge 2021 - Vol. 2

(Illustration by: Shoko Kawai | IG: @shoko_kawai)

We have been consciously adopting a plastic-free life every day, but for this year's Plastic Free July month, we've decided to share our challenges with you; we hope this can inspire more to take the challenge!

So here goes, our Plastic Free July Challenge! The challenge period is one month.

Read about the challenge on our previous blog here:

Plastic Free July Challenge Vol. 1

The first two weeks is Challenge #1; how are things going? There were some epic fails here and there but no one can be 100% perfect from the beginning right? Live and learn!

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Off to grocery shopping with mom. This is my bag that I always bring! I wanted to buy ice cream but they’re all wrapped in plastic…

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Stopped using single use plastic bottles and now I bring my own reusable bottles every day to work! Great for cold drinks too. I hope to survive the hot summer with this!
Said good bye to plastic wraps and switched to beeswax wraps. Zero waste, reusable and can keep things fresh.
Went to the refill station in side the eco store, biople Sangenjaya store. I had the detergent put in a travel-sized container to try them out! The detergent uses plant-derived ingredient and is environmentally friendly.
I opened Korean seaweed wrapped in plastics... but I really wanted to eat it! I'm going to try to find one that's in a can!

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Take out at a nearby Pizza store. All plastic free!
Coffee using my own cup
Got myself some fried rice for take out. Asked them to put them in my own container. Plastic free!!
Participated in a market in Yokohama.I bought fresh organic vegetables and mooncakes while visiting another market that was held next door! Of course, all plastic-free!

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I usually have these with me; my bottle and my cup!
When I have ice drinks and stay in the store to drink, it usually comes in plastic. I used to ask them to change to paper cups but this time I asked them to put them in their cup and voila! No issue at all! Just ask! It doesn’t hurt to ask! Bring your own containers!
Got myself some awesome gluten-free granolas!
Epic fail... I usually say no to wet cloths wrapped in plastic but I totally forgot and used it...
When making coffee at home, I use washable and reusable coffee filters.

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Take out lunch. Couldn’t put them in the container we brought but at least it was a paper box. Other than that brought my own water bottle end my own fork! Also asked them I don’t need any wet cloths that are wrapped in plastic!
Our usual weekly shopping. Brought our produce bag as usual! My mom told me to pick 4 apples; it was hard picking the best looking apples.

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Aesop Toothpaste. No plastic microbeads or microplastics used!
Home made granola. I go through it fast so bought large bags of ingredients and store them in jars! Next time I want to go to a bulk store to get the ingredients plastic free!
Changed stationery used at work from a mechanical pencil to a pencil to make it plastic-free.
Got vegetables without plastic wrapping at farmers markets!
Changed from cotton swabs to bamboo reusable swabs for plastic free!

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Forgot to bring produce bags so I couldn't buy any but I found an old-fashioned dry food store!
At Bio'C'Bon; bought by the bulk. It's not zero waste, but it's plastic-free!
The result of losing to temptation.They gave me Japanese sweets at the soba restaurant which was wrapped in plastic. I know I shouldn’t have but I couldn’t resist…
Said no to straws and wet wipes!

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Using my on cup to take out cold drinks!
Shizen Natura's liquid soap sold by weight and solid soap!
We use beeswax wraps at home and haven't bought any plastic wraps for the past 2 years or so. Beeswax wraps cannot be used in the microwave. What to do? Silicon to the rescue! They come in many sizes too; no need for any plastic wraps!
I backed up the kickstarter project for DuraPik last year and it is here! DuraPik is a reusable, zero-waste dental pick made from recycled, surgical-grade stainless steel that’s built to last. It also comes with organic vegan floss (made by algae!!) which is totally house-compostable and vegan-friendly! What a great alternatives to plastic!

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After the first two weeks, our impression is that plastic is every where than we expected! We've always been quite conscious from before but your REALLY try to do it thoroughly, you find so many traps and it makes you quite anxious actually!

Now, 2 weeks left to the challenge. While we continue with Challenge # 1, we will add another challenge for the last two weeks. Challenge #2 is.... see below!