Plastic Free July is here and if you're wondering where to start, you're in the right place.
Going plastic free doesn't mean overhauling your home. The biggest opportunity is already in your cleaning cupboard.
Small swaps of everyday products are one of the most impactful things you can do this July. Here's why and how to make it feel effortless.
The UK's Plastic Problem Is Bigger Than You Think
UK households throw away around 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging every year. That's not a global figure, that's right here, in the UK. Despite our best recycling efforts, only 12% of all plastic ever produced in the UK actually gets recycled. The rest is incinerated, sent to landfill, or exported abroad.
The recycling bin is a good habit, but it isn't the solution. Using less single-use plastic in the first place is where real change happens.
Cleaning and laundry products are a significant part of that picture. The average UK household gets through up to 70 single-use plastic bottles a year, including basic products like washing-up liquid, laundry detergent, surface sprays, hand soap, shampoo and body wash. Most of those bottles are replaced without a second thought, week after week.
That's 70 chances to do something different.
Refilling made easy
Switching to refills is one of the easiest sustainable swaps you can make.
At Miniml, we make concentrated cleaning and laundry products in 1-litre and 5-litre refills, filled right here in the Yorkshire Dales. The idea is simple: top up the bottles you already own, and carry on. No new packaging to buy, no lifestyle change required, just the same great clean with far less plastic.
Each Miniml 5L refill replaces between 5-12 household bottles. Five fewer bottles produced, delivered and disposed of for exactly the same result at the sink or in the laundry room.
However, what often surprises people is the cost saving! Switching to refills costs up to 53% less than buying single-use bottles like-for-like. With household budgets under real pressure, that's a meaningful saving across a year of essentials.
Small swaps, real change
Here's something worth celebrating: over one million UK households already choose Miniml refills. Together, we produced one million 5L refills in 2025 alone, replacing roughly 5 million single-use bottles and preventing around 200 tonnes of plastic from ever being made.
Since Miniml launched, the total stands at over 517 tonnes of plastic saved.
When empty containers come back to us, we clean them and put them back into circulation through our closed-loop system, so even the refill packaging itself gets a second, third and fourth life rather than ending up as waste.
That impact isn't the result of one big corporate initiative. It's the impact of over a million households, just like yours, making the same small swap in their kitchen or bathroom.
You’re part of something bigger
One of the things we love about Plastic Free July is the sense of community it brings. Across the UK, over 830 local communities are now part of the Plastic Free Communities network, with nearly 30 million people living in a participating area. Refill shops are growing on high streets from Bristol to Edinburgh. Neighbours are sharing recommendations. The refill movement is becoming part of everyday UK life and we're proud to have been part of that story from the very beginning, supplying independent refill shops long before we were available online.
Where to start this July
If you're new to refills, the best place to start is with the products you use most often:
Laundry liquid - most UK households buy 6–10 bottles a year. One Miniml 5L refill covers the equivalent of five.
Washing-up liquid - used almost every day, and one of the easiest switches in our range.
Once you've made the first few swaps - surface cleaners, hand soap, and body wash are a natural next step. Every product you switch is one fewer bottle that needs to be made, filled, shipped and thrown away.
You don't have to do everything at once. You just have to start, and July is the perfect time.
