On May 3rd the NonHazCity Plastic Diet campaign was launched in 14 countries with over 20 organisations and a dozen influencers promoting the Plastic Diet on their social media channels. With more than 100 posts in social media about the Plastic Diet, the campaign is gaining momentum, capturing the attention of many!

The topic of plastic isn’t anything new, but we are happy that so many of you have left us feedback and agree with us that the idea of how plastic can affect our health is a very important argument why we should reduce our plastic consumption altogether.

You can follow the campaign in Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by using the hashtag #NonHazPlasticDiet. To follow the campaign in your country please see thinkbefore.eu/en/plastic-diet/

This first week of the campaign was focused on textile and cloth and the risk on our skin that we are not so aware of, when we are choosing what clothes to buy. It is important to remember that more than 70% of clothing consists of plastic fibres which contain chemical additives. In addition the textile industry uses a lot of chemicals to aquire certain function or appearance for the textile, e.g. dyes, bleaches, impregnators.

You can test how much you’ve learnt during the past week about hazardous substances in textile in this short survey.

Here is a short to-do-list to keep in mind:

• Become more minimalistic – it’s better for you and for the environment!
• Buy 2nd hand clothing (chemicals are already washed out) – swap clothes with friends and family!
• Choose natural fibres certified with eco labels: blue angel, GOTS, (add national labels)
• Wash before wearing in any case!
• Avoid plastic fibres & imprints
• Avoid clothing with a chemical smell
• Think before you buy – every little step makes a difference!