Written by Jen Cole, Director, Clean Fairfax

A quick look around on trash/recycling days in Fairfax County makes it obvious: there is too much plastic in our community and it’s polluting our environment and our health. Food wrappers, bottles, bags, and all manner of plastic make up the bulk of escaped trash littering our sidewalks, roadways, and waterways. The scale of the problem is beyond any one individual, and while the industry responsible for manufacturing all that plastic wants us to think that it is up to us to solve it, the truth is that it is a systemic issue that requires major policy shifts to drastically reduce plastic production.

Despite the magnitude of plastic pollution and the need for an overhaul of the industry, we do each have an individual role to play.

That is where Plastic Free July comes in, a global movement that challenges people wherever they are to kick the plastic habit for a single month. Plastic Free July asks us all to look at all the ways plastic sneaks into our lives, and look for ways to make different choices. And one of those ways is to Reach for Reusables.

Did you know that all 10 of Fairfax County’s farmers markets went plastic bag-free this year? Farmers markets across the country, where we go for healthy, locally grown and produced food, are an odd carve-out in plastic bag bans or taxes, and vendors can go through thousands of those plastic bags every season at a single market.  But our colleagues at the county markets have taken away those hangers of white plastic grocery bags, replaced them with a limited number of certified compostable bags for this year (please make sure you bring them back for composting), and Clean Fairfax loves that for all of us.

While many county residents have been making the switch to reusable grocery bags at the grocery store, folks are still using plastic for produce. Did you know there are also reusable produce bags? Made of mesh, they are washable and can be used to rinse and strain your produce right in the bag! Get yourself a set of 4,6, or 10 so you always have them with you when shopping for fruits and vegetables. These are particularly great for the farmers market. You can easily decline plastic cartons, tubs (vendors love to have those back!) and single-use plastic produce bags on the roll by whipping out your own reusable one like a Plastic Free July hero and declaring for everyone to hear: “No thanks, I have my own bag!”

So, this July, Clean Fairfax challenges YOU to make one small habit change: pledge to remember and use your reusable bags everywhere you shop. It’s easy to make the excuse at the pharmacy, the clothing store, the hardware store, and especially the farmers market: “Oh, I have a bunch of those reusable totes, but I left them at home/in my car/buried in my cupboard.” So, the challenge is to stop making excuses and simply make the effort to have reusable bags with you.