Plastic Free July

Norte supports Plastic Free July. Leave It Better for People, Places, Planet.

 

You know it’s serious when we break into song. And this July 2020, we’ve penned you a little ditty. Hopefully one that sticks in your lovely noggin whilst you go about your daily life. 

 

Friends listen up // This might sound drastic,

We’re asking for your help // To eliminate plastic,

Instead of aiming for absolute perfection // Let’s all focus on paying some attention,

So we can be a part of a sustainable solution // And rid the planet of plastic pollution.

….

Hang on…sorry…. just dropped the mic… oh, there it is!!

(Taking a moment now for the applause to die down)

 Norte Wear is taking the challenge for Plastic Free July

 

Aaaannd we’re back. Right. This month, we’re supporting Plastic Free July, and keeping up the fight to eliminate plastic pollution. You know this cause is dear to our Norte-y hearts.

The way in which we deal with plastic materials has long been a part of our journey at Norte. We’ve eliminated single use plastic from our operations and shipping processes and we’ve also opted to re-use recycled plastic materials in aspects of our jacket design.

With the plastic pollution crisis we face, we feel that the combination of eliminating single use plastics and finding a useful second life for existing materials is the most responsible way we can contribute.

Through #PlasticFreeJuly, and every day, we’re committed to Leave It Better – for People, Places and Planet.

Plastic free July - Norte  Norte supporting Plastic Free July

 

So, what’s it all about?

Plastic Free July is a global movement that helps millions of people be part of the solution to plastic pollution – so we can have cleaner streets, oceans, and beautiful communities.

 

 WHAT CAN YOU DO?

There’s a stack of ways you can get involved, big and small and the folks at Plastic Free July have a great bunch of resources for you to tap into.

- Actions can range from reviewing your personal, business or sporting club’s use of plastic and identifying a more sustainable alternative to sub-in, through to organising a community clean up event or overhauling an existing practice which is reliant upon plastic.

- You can spread the word on your socials, with family and friends, the team at Plastic Free July have a heap of great resources to download and share, here.

- Send a friendly request to your favourite places to shop and encourage them to eliminate single use plastics. A great compostable alternative is available through our official suppliers at The Better Packaging Co.

- Sign up to Take The Challenge to reduce or eliminate your plastic footprint at home or at work, here.

- Invest in quality, environmentally friendly products that will last and will replace what would otherwise be a disposal or plastic item. Some absolute favourites for the Norte team include:

- Earth Bottle – no jokes, we’ve been using these beauties for years and absolutely love them, they run a rad clean-up day too!!

- Beeswax wraps – the most magnificent replacement to cling wrap. The team at https://beeswaxwraps.com.au have a great range and also feature some incredible Australian Indigenous art work on their wraps, including the story behind each piece.

- Untrashy – we’ve only just found this great brand and picked up the reusable travel cutlery swag, it has everything you need to avoid single use plastics on a day out, a picnic or a classic road trip.

- Keep informed, stay active – think global and act local. Check out some great reading and resources at the links below:

https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/take-the-challenge/

https://www.cleanup.org.au/

https://planetark.org/

https://www.take3.org/

https://www.surfrider.org.au/

 

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Aside from our Grammy award winning* ditty above? Below we’ve listed the initiatives we’re working on over at Norte HQ…

*No awards have or will ever be won off the back of this tune.

  - In our recently released Elements Collection, we increased the amount of recycled P.E.T plastic materials in our insulation from 55% to 100%.

- This repurposes plastic materials that already exist and would otherwise be headed for landfill, our natural environments and our oceans.

- We’ll continue our standard practice of delivering to our customers free of plastics, using recycled and compostable materials. Fun fact – if you’ve ever received an order from us with a piece of sticky tape keeping everything in place, fear not – we use biodegradable tape only.

- The hard truth is that in the fashion and apparel industry, there is an unacceptable and harmful amount of waste and we don’t want to contribute to that. So we’re stoked to announce a new partnership with an amazing organisation called Thread Together.

- Thread Together is a registered not-for-profit charity committed to diverting excess fashion from landfill and bringing rad, high quality, brand new clothing to our Australian friends in need. Each season, any excess Norte stock (typically high quality, brand new gear with a small fault) will be donated to Thread Together.

- The Thread Together team help clothe people from all walks of life including victims of domestic violence, refugees, the homeless, people who have been incarcerated, victims of natural disasters – including bushfires and drought – as well as indigenous communities and other disadvantaged communities.

- We’ve also signed up to take the challenge for Plastic Free July and will be looking further at ways to reduce plastic in all aspects of our lives, with July being a great opportunity to share ideas, learn from others and add new skills to our reusable bag of tricks.

 - We'll be sharing more tips and tricks throughout the month and would love to hear from you all too!! Get in touch with us to chat plastic reduction, tips, events and more.

#LEAVEITBETTER

Plastic Free July