Did you know that most of the plastic we consume ends up in landfills, or worse, in our oceans, environment and even inside of us all the while taking up to 500 years to break down? Think about all the single-use plastic items you used today, last week and last month. It adds up quickly. Plastic Free July provides the resources and space for us to reflect on our daily lives and how those habits affect our environment, community, and health.
In a place as beautiful and fragile as Yosemite National Park, it’s imperative we do whatever is necessary to reduce and remove single-use plastic products we consume. That is why we are asking our community of employees who live and work in the park and guests for the month of July to consider a plastic-free July. Whether it’s eliminating all single-use plastics from your life or starting with just one thing, every person and every decision matters.
“Perfection is the enemy of progress” - Winston Churchill.
Eliminating single-use plastics from everyday life can be daunting. But you don’t have to start by eliminating every piece of single-use plastic from your life. You can start small with one or two things, then more and more until you have reduced your plastic consumption significantly or even entirely. Grab a reusable water bottle, reach for the non-plastic water bottle always choose the aluminum or paper container option for your drinks, don’t grab that straw, say no to plastic zip-top bags and pick a reusable option. Whatever it is, you can take small steps to make a big difference.
As a part of our commitment to removing single-use plastics long-term, this July we are launching a program at the Yosemite Valley Lodge Gift and Grocery Store to remove single-use plastic containers for water bottles in favor of aluminum cans.
This is just the beginning. Plastic Free July is an invitation to examine single-use plastics and perhaps eliminate even just one for good. After all, we don’t need 100 people doing it perfectly, we need millions doing it imperfectly.
For more information, resources, and support visit plasticfreejuly.org
