With one month to go until Planet Earth Games, now is a great time to join Plastic Free July! We are proud to be supported by KIDS AGAINST PLASTIC! Here’s our inspiring new ambassadors explaining why we need to take notice of the plastic problem:

As summer has come, the suns come out and people are gathering in groups for the first time since March, our beaches and parks are filling up. Unfortunately, as we all saw on the news recently, beauty-spots like Bournemouth Beach are becoming plastic dumping-grounds. On the hottest day of last week, 500,000 people collectively left over 41-tonnes of rubbish on Bournemouth Beach. Bin men and volunteers (many of them children) cleaned up the mess. Whilst some may see this as a sad tale of human laziness, at Planet Earth Games we also see an inspiring story of selfless volunteers doing their bit for their community.

Plastic Free July is an award-winning campaign which has been running since 2011. Based in Australia, they have built a campaign against single-use plastic which hosts events in Australasia, North America, Africa and the Pacific. This Plastic Free July, we want to help them organise events in Europe.

“Our movement has inspired over 250 million participants in 177 countries. You making a small change will collectively make a massive difference to our communities. You can choose to refuse single-use plastics in July (and beyond!). Best of all, being part of Plastic Free July will help you to find great alternatives that can become new habits forever.”

Here’s some ways you can take part:

• Read inspirational stories from our participants reducing single-use plastic waste at home, work, or in their community.
• Refuse to take single-use plastic. That includes cups, bags, food packaging and anything else which goes straight to landfill! See our 4Rs to Save the Environment to learn more.
• Take part in our weekend plogging events…

#PlanetEarthPlogg

Plogging is our weekly challenge this July. If you have followed us for some time, you will have seen our plogging posts before. In case you’ve missed it: Picking Litter + Jogging = Plogging. Traditionally, you’d go for a run with a bag and pick up the litter as you go, but each weekend this month we have some extra challenges to help you get involved in Plastic Free July:

• Clean-up your local beauty spot, and race your family or friendship group can get more in 20 minutes: we bet you can easily fill two plastic bags in no-time!

• See how much rubbish is along your usual exercise route, whether you run, cycle or walk, wouldn’t it be nice if next time you go out you could see the difference of a clean track?

• Keep hold of your personal plastic waste over the weekend, and on Monday compare amongst your house to see how you rank in your household Plastic Free July leaderboard!

At Planet Earth Games we are trying to demonstrate that a cleaner and greener future can be both achievable and enjoyable. Why not join our Le Tour de France challenge and show-off your miles on our Strava leaderboards? Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin and sign up to our newsletter to get updates from our ambassadors – including world-class Olympians and climate influencers – for our challenges during Planet Earth Games 2020.