Join your Iowa City community in pledging to reduce plastic use this July! To participate, follow the steps below.
It costs no money to participate in the pledge. Pledging connects you with resources for suggested actions to take during the month that reduce your use of plastic bags, bottles, utensils, and other single-use plastics.
As a participant, you’ll receive six helpful emails from Iowa City’s Recycling Coordinator that provide tips, motivation, and resources to support your plastic-free journey. Emails will be sent from late June through early August.
Take action in July
Track simple, voluntary actions all month long to show the impact.
During the four weeks in July, tracking your weekly actions is optional, but helpful to better understand the community impact of this program. More information on how to track your actions will be provided in the first email to participants.
Actions to Reduce Plastic Use
Use a reusable water bottle daily.
- Always bring a reusable water bottle with you. This reduces your use of single-use, disposable bottles. When you practice this daily, this saves a significant amount of waste over time!
Use a reusable mug for coffee or tea.
Use reusable bags when shopping.
- Keep a few reusable bags with you so you are ready when shopping or running errands. If you bring a full reusable bag into the house to empty groceries or supplies out of, place the empty bag back by the door you plan to leave from so that you don’t forget to take your bag.
- When shopping, ask yourself, “Do I need a bag?” If you are purchasing just one or two items, could you possibly carry them out with no bag?
Say “no thank you” to plastic straws at food establishments.
- Go straw-less or bring your own reusable straw.
Bring a reusable container with you when dining out to take home any leftovers.
- Keep an empty, clean reusable food container with you in your purse, backpack, or car. This way, you are ready whenever you go out to eat to take your leftovers home with you. This ensures your leftovers get eaten and avoids packaging waste from not having to use a disposable take-out container.
Opt for loose produce at the grocery store or use a reusable produce bag.
- Pre-packaged produce generates a lot of plastic packaging waste and does not allow you to choose your quantity. If you prefer to place loose produce items into a bag, consider getting a reusable produce bag such as these options. With loose produce offering the ability to choose your quantity, you also help to reduce food waste by only buying what you need.
Consider plastic-free options for your laundry.
- Laundry detergent sheets, pods, and powders all have options packaged in non-plastic materials, such as paper.
- Wool dryer balls are a great alternative to plastic-based dryer sheets, as they are natural, reusable, and cut down on drying time.
Consider plastic-free options for your bathroom.
- Opt for soap bars instead of shower gel.
- Try a shampoo bar for hair washing.
Have leftovers from a home-cooked meal? Choose reusable options to store the leftovers.
- Reusable food storage containers are a great option to organize meal-size portions.
- If leftovers are on a dinner plate, flip a second dinner plate over the top as an easy way to create a cover instead of using a piece of plastic wrap.
Why focus on waste reduction?
Most plastic is difficult to recycle or not recyclable. Even recyclable plastic can only be recycled a few times before it can no longer be recycled and needs to be landfilled. Plastic makes up about 14% of the materials going into the Iowa City Landfill.
The best thing we can do is to reduce our use of plastic by using reusable or alternative materials.
Plastic Free July®
Learn more about the Plastic Free July® international program: www.plasticfreejuly.org
Plastic Free July® is an international program that has encouraged individuals and communities to address plastic waste solutions.
2025 Iowa City Program Recap
In July 2025, Iowa City celebrated plastic waste reduction with an education program that invited community members to participate in action steps to reduce use of single-use plastic.
Over 120 community members pledged to reduce plastic use and tracked waste reduction actions each week in July. In total, 3,234 actions were completed by participants. Here is a further breakdown of actions:
- Say “no thank you” to plastic straws at food establishments: 120 actions
- Bring a reusable container with you when dining out to take home any leftovers: 40 actions
- Use a reusable water bottle daily: 588 actions
- Use a reusable mug for coffee or tea: 514 actions
- Use reusable bags when shopping: 340 actions
- Opt for loose produce at the grocery store or use a reusable produce bag: 198 actions
- Purchase plastic-free options for your laundry detergent: 119 actions
- Use wool dryer balls as an alternative to plastic-based dryer sheets: 247 actions
- Opt for soap bars instead of shower gel: 385 actions
- Try a shampoo bar for hair washing:109 actions
- At home, choose reusable options to store the leftovers instead of plastic wrap: 466 actions
- Other actions: 108 actions
A sincere thank you to all participants for your hard work and dedication to waste reduction!
