Updated July 2026.
What is Plastic Free July?
Plastic Free July™ is “a shared global movement that helps millions of people reduce plastic waste through simple, everyday choices and be part of the solution to plastic pollution” Throughout July, participants around the world are challenged to refuse single-use plastics. Since the challenge started in 2011, over 170 million people across 190 countries have participated, demonstrating how small personal changes can have a massive global impact.
Plastic Free July™ is also a program of the Plastic Free Foundation that provides resources, ideas, and inspiration for participants. It also organizes events and reports on the impact of the campaign.
How can I participate in Plastic Free July?
Plastic Free July™ emphasizes simple lifestyle changes like switching to reusable cups, avoiding plastic packaging, and using reusable bags at the store. The idea is that starting with one change will help participants discover more and more ways to avoid single-use plastic at home, school, and work. In other words, it’s the first step in a greater journey toward a plastic-free future!
Plastic Free July™ recommends these steps to get started:
- Take the challenge by signing up online to get tips, tricks, and stories from other participants
- Take the Pesky Plastics Quiz to discover common household plastics you can avoid
- Explore ideas and commit to your first step
31 days of plastic-free choices
Another way to participate in Plastic Free July™ is through daily challenges. Check out this calendar for 31 Days of Ideas and see how many you can do. We can even help you out with some of them!
Source: Plastic Free July - 31 Days of Ideas for 2026
Here are our favorite plastic-free cleaning ideas:
July 1 – Making a plastic free pledge
Every plastic-free journey starts with a single step, and no matter how many steps you’ve taken, there are always more ways to reduce your plastic use.
We see this often with people who want to reduce plastic in their laundry routine. Many people switch from liquid detergent in plastic jugs to detergent sheets in cardboard boxes. They later learn that sheets are made with dissolvable plastic, and switch again to plastic-free laundry powder. Each step in that journey has an impact and leads to increasing awareness of how much plastic is in our everyday lives.
This year, join thousands worldwide in setting a new world record for “The Most People Refusing Single-Use Plastic in One Day” on July 1.
Make your Plastic Free Pledge.
July 2 – Using what we have
While we’re all for reducing plastic with smart swaps, many of the best ways to eliminate plastic involve using what you already have. For home cleaning, this can mean a few things:
- Before you swap to a new product with a small plastic footprint, use up the rest of what you already have. That plastic bottle was already made, so it’s better to get the most out of it rather than letting it go to waste.
- Stuff you already have at home can be a great complement for plastic-free alternatives. If you already have a foaming soap dispenser or spray bottle, refill it with our soap tablets. Repurpose an airtight jar as a container for laundry powder refills. Use a small plate or shallow mug as a holder for solid dish soap bars.
July 10 – Doing a waste audit
A waste audit is a great way to visualize how much plastic (and other waste) you generate. You can do a waste audit at home, at work, or any place you’re interested in measuring and reducing plastic waste.
How to do a waste audit:
1. Choose a length of time, like a day, a week, or a month.
2. Decide how to track your waste. It can be as simple as a sheet of paper with a list of items and tally marks or a spreadsheet with sections that fit your interests, such as:
- Categorizing the waste by type (landfill, recycling, and composting)
- Getting detailed about the weight or percentage of each type of waste
- Identifying additional steps for handling or reducing each type of waste
3. Create your tracking document and place it near your trash cans, recycling bins, compost buckets, and anywhere else you place waste.
4. Mark items on your tracking sheet as you throw them away. That way you don’t have to sift through your bins later.
5. At the end of your audit, collect your tracking sheets and answer some key questions, such as:
- What have you already done to reduce waste? It’s important to celebrate things you’ve already been doing.
- Where are you creating the most waste?
- What actions can you take to reduce your waste? Make a prioritized list of actions with deadlines to hold yourself accountable.
July 14 – Avoiding plastic wipes
Many wet wipes are made of plastic. Instead of relying on disposable plastic pre-soaked with cleaners, switch to reusable cloth wipes and a refillable all-purpose cleaner that doesn’t rely on single-use plastic.
For baby wipes, you can also use reusable cloth wipes with gentle, baby-safe soap. If you still want to use disposable wipes, there are many brands that make plastic-free wipes without harsh chemicals.
July 15 – Switching to shampoo (and soap) bars
Bar soap is a great alternative to bottled liquid products, and it isn’t just limited to shampoo! Solid soap bars are effective for personal care, washing dishes, and removing stains. Dissolvable soap tablets also make great refill options for cleaning spray and hand soap.
Our Bath & Body Soap Bar is a vegan soap made from organic coconut and sunflower oils and is available unscented or scented with organic essential oils. It comes in your choice of a recyclable, compostable paperboard box or completely package-free!
Swap liquid dish soap for our solid Dish Soap bar, a plastic-free way to clean your dishes. Just keep the bar near your sink and rub a wet sponge, brush, or cloth over it to work up a rich lather. Scrub your dirty dishes, rinse them thoroughly, and repeat. Choose between a recyclable, compostable paperboard box or completely package-free!
Refill any foaming soap dispenser with our Foaming Hand Soap Refill Tablets. Just dissolve one tablet in warm water for a rich, lathering soap that cleans your hands without drying your skin.
July 16 – Making household cleaners
Many household items like vinegar, baking soda, and lemons are effective, affordable, and eco-friendly home cleaners. There are also a ton of resources online to learn how to make your own soap and cleaning products. We think these are great options for safer, plastic-free cleaning products, but we also know that the DIY approach isn’t for everyone.
That’s where our products come in. Our founder Kate got started making soap and laundry powder in her apartment. Since then we’ve grown a lot and our processes have improved, but our product design principles have remained the same. We’re committed to making people- and planet-friendly products that work without relying on harsh chemicals or plastic waste. All our products are made with safer ingredients and sustainable packaging, so you can get the benefits of homemade cleaners without the added time and effort.
July 18 – Choosing natural fibers
Choosing clothes made from natural fibers like organic cotton and wool is a great way to reduce the plastic production required for synthetic fibers. Natural fibers also prevent microplastics from shedding when you wash your clothes.
Some natural fibers, like wool and silk, are delicate and require gentle detergents. Our Laundry Powder is safe for most fabrics, including wool, silk, and cotton, since it's made with baking soda, washing soda, and soap—not harsh chemicals or enzymes that degrade natural fibers.
However, you should avoid using our Oxygen Brightener on delicates like wool and silk. While it is a safer alternative to bleach, it contains sodium percarbonate, an oxidizing agent that excels at breaking down organic compounds. That’s great for most dirty clothes, but too strong for fragile fibers.
July 19 – Choosing laundry powder
Powder is a great alternative to liquid products bottled in single-use plastic, especially when it comes to laundry. Our Laundry Powder is made from vegetable soap, baking soda, and washing soda. Think of it like liquid detergent with the water taken out, but made with plant-based soap instead of petroleum-based detergents and additives. It comes in a paper-and-steel canister or in low-waste refills that you can use with the canister or your own container.
While alternative laundry products like detergent sheets, strips, and pods are growing in popularity, we see them as a false solution to plastic pollution. These products are often marketed as being made with “plastic-free packaging” because they don’t come in plastic bottles. In reality, plastic has been moved from the packaging to the ingredients list in the form of PVA (also known as PVOH or polyvinyl alcohol), a dissolvable plastic used to make sheets and pods.
While some argue that sheets and pods use less plastic than bottles, we offer a no-compromise Laundry Powder that contains no plastic packaging or ingredients.
July 26 – Plastic-free picnic
There are many ways to reduce waste during your summer celebrations, like switching from disposable plastic to stainless steel dishes or swapping single-use napkins for reusable cloth towels.
You can make your clean-up plastic free too! Try these solutions:
- Use a solid dish soap bar to hand wash your reusable dishes.
- Easily clean up spills and other messes with all-purpose cleaner refill tablets.
- Keep your hands clean with foaming hand soap refill tablets.
- Have a solid soap stick on hand to quickly treat stains from popsicles, mustard, grass, and more.
July 30 – Sharing with others
Plastic Free July® is a great time to bring attention to the many ways that we can all reduce plastic in our daily lives, but it’s just the beginning. We hope that any steps you take and challenges you complete will inspire lifelong changes.
We design our products with the health and well-being of people and the planet in mind. That means:
- Reducing plastic wherever we can
- Reducing other harmful chemicals
- Continually improving our products and processes
- Using our platform to advocate for better policies and industry practices
- Educating ourselves and our community about healthy, sustainable cleaning
Sign up for our monthly newsletter to stay informed about the latest news, trends, and tips in sustainable cleaning and laundry. Plus, get an exclusive 15% discount on your next order!
July 31 – Creating a plastic free future
Our vision is a clean, happy, and healthy home life for you—one that doesn't rely on secret formulas and mysterious chemicals. That includes plastic. Since 2013, we’ve been making single-use plastic-free home cleaning and laundry products that don’t compromise on ingredient safety or cleaning power.
So far, we’ve prevented over 4 million plastic bottles from ever existing! Our solutions include plastic-free laundry products, single-use plastic-free refills, and package-free soaps.
Our latest Sustainability Report details the many ways we strive to make the best cleaning products we can with the least negative impact on people and the planet.
In addition to our products and every day operations, we fund and work with amazing organizations like Beyond Plastics and Plastic Pollution Coalition to advocate for a plastic-free future in our industry and beyond.
More from Plastic Free July™
- Make Your Plastic Free Pledge
- Do a Waste Audit
- What You Can Do: Tips to Reduce Plastic Waste
- Find Events Near You