Kirihou Kore Hōngongoi - Plastic Free July

Walking along our beautiful beaches, it is easy to spot intriguing shells and stones. You can scan the sand in search of beautiful natural pieces and tune out the plastic waste that sits alongside it. Here in NZ we’re lucky that there are still more shells and stones than bits of plastic and this Plastic Free July we challenge you to help it to stay that way by Taking 3 for the Sea.

Plastic Free July is all about changing our habits and the best way to prevent plastic pollution is to stop it at source by changing our buying habits (buying less stuff) and calling businesses and governments to account to reduce the amount of plastic produced.

Another way of changing our habits is when we are beach combing. Shell collecting while at the beach is fun, but if we all take shells then there are no homes for animals like hermit crabs. It’s not like when we were kids - now we know the damage we are doing and also there are so much more of us. If 8 billion people are all collecting shells then there will be no beach left in the future.

Leave shells on the beach when you go home. Leave nothing but footprints.

So this PFJ we’re encouraging you to change your beachcombing habits, pick up pretty shells but put them back on the beach before you go home. And leave with some litter instead. We have an incentive for you!

1)      Pick up 3 or more pieces of litter

2)      Send us a photo

3)     We will send you a discount code for $10 off our marine themed earrings

Please send your photo via Instagram or email and include your email address so I can send you a discount code.

You can still admire by picking up (empty) shells and putting them back on the beach before you go. This is good example of changing our habits to preserve the environment. Just like we need to change our habits to stop plastic pollution at its source.

For more information about what you can do to reduce your environmental impact, check out the Plastic Free July Aotearoa Facebook page.