Plastic free July: five top tips
- Words by Peppermint
As Plastic Free July kicks off in 130 countries around the world, we’ve rounded-up some of the easiest ways to show pesky plastics the door. As well as making practical changes, there’s never been a better time to make yourself heard – advocating for reusable straws, cups and packaging everywhere from your local cafe to the shops you pop to. Sure, you run the risk of sounding like a broken record, but it’s for a good cause – and even a broken record can be repurposed into something beautiful.
Coffee cups
A classic villain – most takeaway coffee cups can’t be recycled, and we Aussies plough through a massive
1 billion cups each year. Thankfully it’s becoming way more mainstream to present a barista with a reusable coffee cup (no more looking at you in consternation as they try to work out how to close the lid), and the most forward-thinking cafes are now offering discounts for patrons that BYO. Sleek glass Bontazza and the nifty collapsible Cupy are just a couple of the alternatives out there.
Plastic bags
When it comes to these guys, the stats are particularly horrifying. 160,000 plastic bags are used globally every second, and 5 trillion plastic bags are produced yearly. With so much of our plastic ending up in the oceans and so many amazing reusable options out there, it’s a no-brainer to say no at the checkout. Flip & Tumble’s reusable shopping bags are a clever design that last and last, and Onya’s produce bags do away with that whole one-bag-per-two-apples supermarket dilemma. Get on it (and then put your stuff in it).
Straws
We’ve all seen the videos of straws being removed from the noses of terrified turtles (if you haven’t, do, but warning – it’s watch-between-your-fingers kind of viewing). Reusable straws are a one-off buy that can hide at the bottom of your handbag til you’re next faced with the urgent medical need for a chocolate milkshake or a creamy iced latte. Ecococoon and Biome can help quench your thirst without guilt.
Water bottles
With so many reusable bottle options on the market, there’s really no excuse for buying bottled water. Volunteers for Clean Up Australia day reported that one in ten pieces of plastic they collected was bottled water-related, and that’s one in ten too many. From S’Well to the Rechusable No Plastic! option and lots more in-between, there’s a myriad of slick options for making a bottle your bestie and carrying it everywhere – the planet’ll thank you for it.
Bathroom basics
Shampoo, conditioner, cleanser, bodywash – for the smallest room of the house, the bathroom has a line-up of the biggest plastic offenders. Just think of all the shampooing you’ve done in your life – those bottles still exist somewhere. No hairdo is worth that – in fact we’d say it’s more of a hair-don’t. Instead, think about swapping to packaging-free bars to get your squeaky-clean hair, face and body fix – Ethique and Lush do the trick nicely.
WORDS: HELEN DEWAR
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“My piece of advice for makers and designers? Run your own race… make sure your key decisions stay anchored in your brand’s core beliefs.”
- Bec Bligh
Quick show of hands: who’s opened a water bottle expecting a refreshing sip… and instead been greeted by the unmistakable whiff of uh-oh?
Because for something that follows us everywhere (desk, car, hikes, yoga…), the humble drink bottle is strangely prone to becoming a science experiment. Hard-to-clean corners and gaskets. Mystery smells. Bec Bligh and her husband Tim know it well. A six-month sailing trip along the Queensland coast left them with a lifetime of memories and one stubborn annoyance: mouldy water bottles they couldn’t properly clean.
So they did something about it.
Enter @EverVessel. Thoughtfully designed borosilicate glass and stainless steel bottles that keep things beautifully simple: durable materials, wide openings, easy-to-clean parts and none of the techy gimmicks that tend to age badly. Turns out simplicity, done well, is pretty powerful stuff. (Their many design awards agree!)
And lately they’ve added a little extra delight: the Artist Series, where creatives like Paola Castro, Ben Miners and Martin Thompson transform these everyday companions into tiny travelling artworks. There are more colabs in the works, too: hydration, but make it joyful! 🎨💧
We chatted with Bec about the sailing trip that started it all, the philosophy behind Ever Vessel, and why the most sustainable product is often just the one you keep using.
Tap the link in our bio to read the full conversation. 🚰
#EverVessel #ReusableWaterBottle
Pull up a chair… there’s room at this table!
For the first time, Feast for Freedom is bringing people together for a spectacular long-table dinner as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival.
A Longer Table is exactly what it sounds like: one beautiful shared table inside the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1), piled with generous dishes inspired by this year’s hero cooks, Noha and Nige.
From 6 to 9pm on Wednesday, 25 March, this is what you can expect:
🍽 A three-course shared feast
🍷 Matched drinks
🎶 Live entertainment
✨ A room full of good humans
Your ticket doesn’t just buy you a delicious dinner. It supports the ASRC’s vital work and helps create a fairer future for people seeking asylum.
Seats are limited, and long tables have a way of filling up quickly – head to @MelbFoodAndWine’s website to book now: feastforfreedom.org.au/mfwf
#FeastForFreedom #MelbourneFoodAndWineFestival #LongTableDinner #FoodForChange
Sew versatile! 🪡
Another great make from Lisa from @SunnySewsEveryday:
My #PeppermintWaratahWrapDress is finished and I’m so proud of it. It has been designed not to flap open and flash your pants in the wind, so I feel confident it will be a great wheelchair or standing dress in English weather.
#PeppermintPatterns #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
Frame your face with the Peppermint Bucket Hat!
Stay safe and stylish in the sun with your very own self-sewn and self-drafted wide-brimmed bucket hat. This beginner-friendly sew is perfect for a sunny day. Get out your pencils – this pattern is created using equations and maths!
This DIY project was featured in Issue 53 and now you can access it for the lovely low price of only $5.
Sun-safe chic is always in style. ☀️
Find it via the link in our bio!
Photos: @KelleySheenan
#PeppermintPatterns #PeppermintBucketHat #BucketHat #BucketHatPattern #DIY
✨ INSTANT CLASSIC ✨
The Peppermint Myrtle Shift Dress is a beginner-friendly make with a few special details based on the ever-stylish shift shape – the perfect dress you need in your wardrobe right now!
Myrtle cuts above the knee with options to customise the length. Don’t think she’s reserved for hot weather either: try a heavier-weight fabric to turn your Myrtle into a pinafore-style garment for layering.
For our fabrics we chose two from our lovely sewing partner @Karmme_Apparel – the bold Rottnest Stripes in a lightweight, soft-drape cotton, and the quality linen in the handpainted Mexico Collection.
Get making the Myrtle – the only question is, can you stop at just one?
Link in bio 🪡
Fabric: @Karmme_Apparel
Sewist: @Laura_The_Maker
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Models: @SerahSews and @Pins_And_Tonic
Location: @ShareTheDignityAustralia
#PeppermintMyrtleShiftDress #PeppermintPatterns
It’s time to Feast!
Some recipes travel a long way before they land on your table to delight your taste buds. This year’s Feast for Freedom invites us to gather our friends, cook something delectable and raise funds for the incredible work of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (@Asrc1) while we’re at it.
The 2026 Feast features recipes shared by two remarkable cooks: Noha, who brought the flavours of Palestine with her when she arrived in Australia, and Nige, a Sri-Lankan Tamil cook whose journey with food began in the most unexpected of places.
You can host your own Feast up until 30 April – simply register online and get planning! Host a dinner, organise a workplace lunch, or gather your community… However you do it, the idea is simple: cook, connect and celebrate the cultures and stories that shape Australia.
Want to find out more? Head to the link in bio to meet Noha and Nige, learn more about their stories, and discover a delicious recipe to try.
#FeastForFreedom #PeppermintMagazine #FoodForGood #ASRC
