So, 10 million plastic bags are produced each week worldwide and most of these bags still exist in the world.

NSW generates 800,000 tonnes of plastic every year but recycles less than 10 per cent of its plastic waste.

Microplastics are used in a range of cosmetic products.

All this plastic finds its way into landfill or is washed into our rivers and oceans, where it enters our food chain. We eat up to five grams of plastic a week.

Plastic has even been found in the placentas of unborn babies.

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Massive accumulations of plastic waste like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch circulate around the Pacific Ocean, killing marine life.

There is a crucial role for governments in reducing the production of plastic and requiring its recycling.

After pressure from community groups like Planet Ark and the Total Environment Centre, the state government has introduced the successful Return and Earn program and its Plastics Action Plan which will ban many single-use plastics, like straws and takeaway cutlery and containers, and provide subsidies for firms and councils developing recycling technology and programs.

We are beginning to see the development of a market for recycled plastic in the production of products like drink containers, outdoor furniture, children's play equipment and road base. Better late than never!

For the rest of us, Plastic-Free July challenges us to see how we can creatively reduce our consumption and waste of plastics.

We can avoid buying products that are packaged in plastic and instead shop at places like the Bathurst Whole Food Cooperative that avoid plastic packaging wherever possible.

We can try to wash and re-use plastic bags that come with products we can't avoid purchasing.

Hopefully, as the threat of COVID recedes, more businesses will welcome the return of keep cups instead of disposables.

We can check how much plastic we toss out each week and try to reduce it.

We can ask Bathurst Regional Council to explain what happens to the different types of plastic that we put into the recycling bin, and what they are doing to ensure that plastics don't end up as landfill or litter.

We can ask them to keep plastic out of the Macquarie/Wambool.

Who knows, if we can reduce our plastic consumption through July, we might change our habits permanently.