Although July has come and gone, the South Portland Sustainability Office still has single-use plastics on the brain. Plastic Free July was an eye-opening experience that ultimately altered our consumer habits. In the office, we have been talking about single-use plastic consumption all month long, but now, we want to hear what you have to say.

Plastic Free July in the Sustainability Office

The South Portland Sustainability Office invites residents to share their plastic-free efforts and experiences. Those who participate have a chance for a gift card to a South Portland eatery. For more information, email Mia at mambroiggio@southportland.org. Andree Kehn photo/Sun Journal

The Sustainability Office entered Plastic Free July with high hopes and a competitive edge. Casey Zorn, our sustainability program manager, even said she would stop wearing her contacts for the month to avoid their plastic packaging (and she did). Although we designed our version of Plastic Free July with humility — as an opportunity to recognize the difficulty of getting rid of plastics from our lives — we were ready to commit to cutting plastics, and were feeling a bit hardcore about it.

In the office, everyone was hyper aware of their plastic consumption. I started to bring a mug in for my morning coffee and Casey and I both increased our consumption of package-free fruit.

We were in the process of planning community events as well, which came with the unique experience of navigating what snacks we could buy plastic free (so we weren’t adding plastic to your lives either). Every week, I sat down to write the weekly email outreach to those who pledged to be plastic free; I felt excited to not be alone in this experience but also silly about all of the mistakes I was making. Here I was, writing on behalf of a sustainability office, while mere hours before I had ordered breakfast at a diner and accidentally got jam in a single use plastic cup. But then again, isn’t that what this experience was all about?

Understanding that it doesn’t matter if you are a zero-waste expert or someone in the sustainability field, cutting out plastics from your life is hard and mistakes are inevitable.

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A huge highlight of this experience was meaningful interactions with participating residents. Whether it was someone asking to sign up or sending me their recommendation for silicone snack bags, I consistently heard residents’ thoughts about single-use plastics. This buzz around being plastic free kept me motivated throughout the month.

A month of trying to be plastic free made us more mindful consumers, a quality we will carry with us long after July.

Share your story, please

Our month was packed with plastic-free conversation in the office, and we want to hear more about your experience participating in Plastic Free July.

Share your experience with us for a chance to win a gift card to a South Portland eatery.

If you are already on the Plastic Free July mailing list, an email with a survey asking for your Plastic Free July experience is sitting in your inbox. If you’re not on the list, reach out to Mia at mambroiggio@southportland.org.

Our Sustainable City is a recurring column in the Sentry intended to provide residents with news and information about sustainability initiatives in South Portland. Follow the Sustainability Office on Instagram and Facebook @soposustainability.

Mia Ambroiggio is a Greater Portland Council of Governments resilience corps fellow serving in the Sustainability Office. She can be reached at mambroiggio@southportland.org.

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