Center for Environmental Health

Happy Juneteenth! Join us as we celebrate the progress this holiday represents as well as the reminder of the work still to be done.

❓ Have you begun your reuse and refill journey? If not: why not start today, on World Refill Day? 🌎

Here are a few things you can do to reduce plastic pollution:

✅ Ditch the disposable cups! If you’re going to a coffee shop, don’t forget to bring your favorite reusable beverage container. You can hand it to the barista and ask them to make your coffee in your cup, and save a single-use cup in the process. A lot of coffee shops will even give you a discount for bringing your own cup, so everyone (especially the environment) wins!

✅ Did you just run out of shampoo and conditioner? Or laundry and dish detergent? Before you head to a big box store to resupply, you might want to check out your local reuse and refill store first. A lot of these stores sell personal care and other products that allow you to bring your own glass or stainless steel jars or containers (try to avoid plastic if you can), and simply refill there. Typically you pay by the ounce, and save a whole additional plastic package you’d typically get when resupplying on detergents or shampoos.

✅ Do you live in an area where it’s safe to drink tap water? If so, don’t forget to use our favorite stainless steel or glass reusable water bottle for filling up and hydrating. This is much better than purchasing huge packs of disposable plastic water bottles, which contain chemicals that are harmful when ingested, and also harm the environment after use.

While the responsibility to change business practices to become safer for public health and the environment should fall upon manufacturers, these three things will help make an impact on reducing plastic waste. Happy ! 💚