660,000 Plastic Bags Saved - Wrapping up Plastic Free July

660,000 Plastic Bags Saved!

As July comes to an end, we’re reflecting on the positive changes made during Plastic Free July — a month that encourages individuals and businesses to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics. It's not just about ticking a box for a month. It’s about building better habits and creating lasting change, and this July, so many more people have done just that.

Whether you brought your own bags, refilled your bottles, switched to bar soap or vowed never to buy cling wrap again, each small shift matters. Collectively, each small change makes a big impact.

At Ecodownunder, reducing waste has always been close to our hearts. Back in 2018, we successfully eliminated plastic packaging from our stores!

Since then, we’re proud to say we’ve saved approximately 660,000 single-use plastic bags from going to landfill. That’s 660,000 fewer pieces of plastic polluting our environment, oceans and ecosystems.

By 2018, we had already transitioned to package our pristine white cotton sheets in biodegradable “plastic bags”, but we realised even that wasn’t enough. It was still packaging — still waste. So we took the next step and removed all single-use packaging from our stores.  It wasn’t easy, but it’s now the norm for our suppliers and loyal customers. 

Our customers can now make purchases knowing that everything they choose can, at the end of its useful life, be returned to earth, from where it originally came; completing the circle of life of each product you might say.

Every bed sheet, quilt or towel we sell without plastic packaging, is a statement: that beautiful, useful things can be made and sold without damaging the planet. And every customer who brings their own bag or chooses low-waste alternatives,  is part of this movement too.

Being plastic free to us, also means avoiding synthetic fabrics wherever possible: we’re helping Australians fill their homes with beautiful natural fibres.

 Our focus, on creating the most comfortable bedding to sleep in, has fortunately been harmonious with our passion to do no harm to the environment.  To meet both ends, from day one over 25 years ago, we have avoided the use of synthetics like polyester, acrylic and micro fleece in our products.   These textiles are essentially plastics made from non-renewable resources which shed micro fibres when they’re washed and worn.  Microfibers end up in the ocean and are now thought to be a bigger problem for ocean pollution than single use plastic like bottles, straws and coffee cups.  And if you’ve ever slept in poly cotton sheets, you’ll appreciate how unpleasant synthetic fabrics are to sleep in. 

Plastic Free July reminds us that it is possible to do better — and we’re doing it, together.

Here’s to the new habits formed, the old items swapped out, and the packaging we’ll never miss.

What a difference we can all make!

Why We Do What We Do - watch this 1 min video on you tube!

Read more:

Eliminating Plastic Packaging From our Stores

The problem with Synthetic Textiles: a Closer Look at Environmental and Health Concerns.

Do the Clothes you Wear End up in the Food you Eat?