Plastic-Free February - Will You Join Us?

Methow Recycles staff will be challenging ourselves yet again with plastic-free February. This will be the third year we are doing this challenge, where we try to stay away from any new plastic items or plastic-wrapped items for the entire month of February.

Would you like to try? Here are the two simple rules of plastic-free February

• For the entire month of February, try not to buy any new plastic or plastic-wrapped items. Plastic stuff you already have in your house or fridge is fine. Purging is not the goal here :)
• Save any newly purchased plastic you do use during the month. At the end of the month, pile all of your plastic up and see how you did.

Throughout the month, notice how the challenge is going for you and/or your family. What is/is not difficult? Has it been harder or easier than you imagined? How does that change among the different people in your household? Are there any products that have made staying away from plastic easier? Did you find a plastic-free hack in the valley we should know about? We'll be sharing our experiences with the community as we go along and at the end in a special e-news so it would be great to get your perspective!

And remember, this challenge is difficult if not impossible and that's kind of the point. The challenge raises awareness of just how prevalent plastic is in our lives. So don't feel bad if by day 2 you are using an item packaged in plastic. Hopefully this challenge will lead to some behavior changes, like switching to bulk tea or bringing reusable bags to use for produce and bulk items. No guilt, have fun, and view this as a learning experience!