It’s Plastic Free July: “Refuse single-use, choose to reuse” to win delicious prizes

Join UNSW's Plastic Free July Campaign! Ditch single-use packaging on campus and enter our draw to win free coffees and vouchers for The Lounge, UNSW Roundhouse, or Thoughtful Foods!

Evey year, the global Plastic Free July campaign helps millions of people ditch plastic and single use packaging worldwide. UNSW has been taking the issue of plastic pollution seriously and has significantly reduced plastic consumption through the Plastic Free Dining program. This year, we are encouraging our UNSW community to address the issue of single-use packaging on campus while celebrating the 75 years anniversary of our University!

As we strive to create and demonstrate a more liveable world at UNSW, it is essential that we embrace reusable items and reduce single-use plastics on our campus. The Plastic Free July campaign serves as a great example of how each of us can contribute to shaping the world we want to live in and I invite you all to strive during July to avoid single-use items and choose to reuse.” Pr Attila Brungs, Vice-Chancellor and President of UNSW Sydney.

Every year, Australians use a staggering 1.84 billion single-use coffee cups. If we were to fill the Library Lawn with cups collected over the course of one month, the resulting pile would tower 16 meters high🤯 At UNSW, we estimate that around 6 cups per minute are being used!

Eliminating the 500,000 cups used annually on campus, would save:

• 11 tonnes of paper (and save trees 🌳),
• 1.7 tonnes of plastic,
• and 4.5 tonnes of overall waste! ♻️

And this is just the cups, not even all the food packaging we use every day on campus.

Here's how you UNSW community supported the campaign this July:

Action 1: The “Choose to reuse” pledge

400 participants entered the pledge and committed to do at least one of the following actions:

• Bring my reuseable cup to order hot beverages on campus
• Bring my reusable food container to order takeaway food on campus
• Bring my reusable cutlery to eat on campus
• Bring my water bottle and enjoy free water refills on campus
• Say no to disposable lids (cups and containers) if I must use single-use options.

Lucky winners received delicious vouchers for The Lounge, UNSW Roundhouse, Thoughtful, Plume Cafe or Home Ground Café.

Figure 1: A lucky winner enjoyed chocolate brownies and a jar to reuse at Thoughtful Foods!

Action 2: The Plastic Free July Stall

Our team and ARC Sustainability Team shared plastic-free and reuse best practices with students and staff at the Main Library. The participants enjoyed receiving Huskee reusable cups, Café Brioso vouchers, and reusable cutlery packs to dine waste-free on campus!