Plastic free tips for business owners

Get your business involved in Plastic Free July. Lead by example and encourage your employees and customers to join in.

Some ways to get involved:

• Raise awareness by displaying Plastic Free July signs and spreading the word on your social media channels.
• Find ideas, resources and sign up to the Plastic Free July challenge.
• Explore ways you can reduce waste in your business.
• Develop a sustainability action plan for your business. 
• Learn how to promote your business’s sustainability efforts.

Depending on the type of business you run, you can make swaps to reduce single-use plastic, such as:

• using plastic-free packaging, cardboard boxes and sustainable packing materials.
• upgrading to reusable items
• accepting reusable containers and mugs from your customers.

Do you know how much waste your business makes? Conducting a waste audit can tell you how much waste your business is creating and what type of waste is most common.

After conducting the audit, you should:

• evaluate if anything that you throw out can be recycled, donated, or produced less
• stay up to date on the recycling rules in your state or territory
• have enough recycling bins around your business.

Contact your suppliers to ask about their commitment to sustainability. If your suppliers are not environmentally and socially sustainable, you may want to research and compare different suppliers to find one that supports sustainable values.