With relatively short notice and global help, West End UMC in Nashville put together their Plastic Free July (PFJ) plan. You can too.

The global help has come from Australia, where eleven years ago one woman’s frustration with the plastic problem spawned a now worldwide effort, engaging 326 million participants. Their work means our churches don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Visit plasticfreejuly.org both for ideas and for cool resources, including posters and more.

The PFJ site also takes care of registration and will follow up with a confirmation email. We have asked our members to forward that confirmation to a named person on our Creation Care team, so we also would have a record of participants from our congregation. Being able to report the numbers in the church newsletter is one way to generate excitement and further involvement.

When people sign up, PFJ’s site offers varying levels of commitment in terms of time (one day, one week, the whole month) and in terms of the task (for example, avoid plastic packaging, tackle the big 4 [single-use bottles, bags, straws, cups]). The PFJ organization will also send regular, encouraging and informative emails during the month.

In addition to our own publicity, which includes the really great infographics from the PFJ site, we are set to have “show and tell” tables at the church on three Sundays in July (not the 4th). These are opportunities to show people products and practices that are alternatives to plastic use that people on the Creation Care team have tried and incorporated. Along with “show,” we can talk with people and also listen to their stories and needs. We know that encouragement from a trusted person is an effective catalyst for change.

We’re capping off the month with a drawing for all the participants and will give away various products that will continue to help them go plastic free beyond July. “Winning” also gives them an excuse to talk to others about their experience. And so, the ripples go!