May has been motivating as we prepare for a full summer of straw-less-ness and plastic-free fun! We have been working hard behind the scenes to bring you some summer campaigns and events. We are very excited about the our friendly competition with our neighbours at Waste Free Edmonton and the Amazing Trace Race is coming up soon. With all of these new campaigns and events, we’re going to need some awesome volunteers to help.

The Last Straw

We are pumped about this ex-straw-dinary campaign. Teaming up with Waste Free Edmonton, our goal is to get as many bars and restaurants to go straw free on July 14, 2018. The city who has the most restaurants participating will be declared Alberta’s 2018 Last Straw Champion…. hoping Calgarians can put this rad title under our belt!

If you would like to participate as a volunteer, as a straw-free business or want more information, click here.

The Amazing Trash Race

PFYYC presents “The Amazing Trash Race”
Find trash – Take a Pic – Pick it up – Win!

This is a DIGITAL “RACE” using the Litterati App.
Participants will go about their own day, wherever they are, picking up trash, using the app as a tracker of their progress.
The top trash “racers” who collect and track the most litter on the app, during the day of June 2, 2018, will win one of our amazing sponsored prizes

Prizes Include: A Fossil watch from Watch Station($225),  one-of-a-kind sleeve by Reworks Upcycle Shop ($45), a super cute set of Splat and Co wool dryer balls ($38), and a glass straw set with cleaning brush from Bow Valley Straws!

More details and images of the prizes are found on our Facebook Event page, here.

Plastic-Free Product Spotlight: Timber Child 

This month, our Plastic-Free Product Spotlight was on Timber Child, a BC-based family business that makes natural lifestyle products for children. They make non-toxic, Canadian maple wood alternatives for plastic plates for kids. Read the full segment here.

Do you have or know of a business that should be featured on our blog? Reach out to info@plasticfreeyyc.com to share recommendations or say hello!

Eco Fair & Plogging

On May 6th, we joined the city-wide clean-up in Swedish-style. Plogging is the art of jogging while picking up (‘plocka up’ in Swedish) litter.  A group of volunteers plogged their way along the bow river pathways to the Eco Fair. We collected 13kg of trash, most of which was not recyclable.

The Eco Fair was hosted by the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association in partnership with Calgary Climate Action Network, Boomerang Bags YYC and Plastic-Free YYC. It was a gathering of earth conscious groups around the city to celebrate the annual River and Pathways clean up.

We saw a lot of smiling faces at the Eco Fair. Everyone that attended was able to learn about how to keep our rivers clean as well as local zero-waste initiatives to help improve the health of our ecosystems. All in all, it was a great, sunny (and clean) day.

Naked Ape Apparel Sponsorship

Two friends started Naked Ape Apparel out of a love of gemstone bracelets and wanting to give back to the community. The name “APE” came to be as we knew our passions were with Animals, People, and the Environment – it was a perfect fit!

Starting June 1, Naked Ape Apparel will be sponsoring Plastic-Free YYC for two months. A portion of their sales will be donated to our cause. Plastic-Free YYC will also be selling these beautiful bracelets at all upcoming festivals!

Support PFYYC by purchasing yourself or your loved ones these stunning gemstone bracelets, along can be found on their website here.

Screening of BLUE in Calgary

It’s been confirmed… Calgary is getting a screening of the documentary BLUE – TONIGHT! A look at how the ocean and it’s creatures are in peril because of human waste. There are still tickets left, so we hope to see you there.

To purchase tickets click here.

Upcoming Events

Thank you to everyone who volunteered at our events in May.

We have a lot of events coming up like 100in 1 day – the Amazing Trash Race, Vegfest, Straw-free day, and Ride the River.

VISIT OUR EVENTS PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE.