{"id":2434,"date":"2020-07-08T12:09:29","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T16:09:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/?p=2434"},"modified":"2023-04-18T21:13:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T01:13:37","slug":"plastic-free-july-in-lawrence-township-nj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/archived-posts\/plastic-free-july-in-lawrence-township-nj\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic Free July in Lawrence, NJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>With the onset of the Covid pandemic earlier this year, many of the fears around use of single-use plastic bags are funded by the fossil fuel industry. According to the Center for International Environmental Law, over 99% of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. In fact, the fossil fuel and plastic industries are deeply connected. The shale gas boom in the United States is fueling a massive build-out of plastic infrastructure in the United States and beyond, See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ciel.org\/\">www.ciel.org<\/a>. Sadly, just as the general public begins to realize the dangers of plastic pollution and take action to reduce it, industry is poised to invest billions in expanding plastic production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/500_bags_in_Prius-copy-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The Prius is filled with 500 bags &#8211; the amount the average person uses in one year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here in Mercer County, we want to encourage our residents to reduce the amount of plastics in their lives. So we will take the month of July to share tips and information with you so that you can make good choices to protect the environment. To start, you might try visiting <a>PlasticFreeJuly.org<\/a> and take the challenge, starting with their survey. Many of our Sustainable Lawrence members are participating in this world-wide event with millions of others. You can also check our social media this month for tips on how to reduce plastic in your lives and information on the state of plastics in the Garden State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/20130217_151540-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The Bag Monster costume is made out of 500 bags<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Top Tip: Reduce Plastic Waste When Buying Produce<\/strong>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Buying plastic-wrapped or packaged fruits and vegetables creates plastic waste. Look for loose fruits and vegetables in your local grocery store, or head to a farmers market. Choose lightweight, reusable produce bags instead of the plastic bags that are usually provided. You can find a list of local farmers markets and community sponsored agricultural opportunities on the <a href=\"https:\/\/mercersustainabilitycoalition.org\/food\/\">Mercer Sustainability Coalition<\/a> webpage. What ways have you reduced your plastic waste when buying produce?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"679\" height=\"960\" src=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/plasticstats_poster.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2435\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/plasticstats_poster.jpg 679w, https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/plasticstats_poster-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Please follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sustain.Lawrence\">Facebook<\/a> and share with us your ways you are going plastic free. We will be posting more tips and resources soon too.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the onset of the Covid pandemic earlier this year, many of the fears around use of single-use plastic bags are funded by the fossil fuel industry. According to the Center for International Environmental Law, over 99% of plastic is made from chemicals sourced from fossil fuels. In fact, the fossil fuel and plastic industries [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[55],"class_list":["post-2434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archived-posts","tag-reduce"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2434"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2451,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2434\/revisions\/2451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sustainablelawrence.org\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}