Keep Australia Beautiful Week runs from August 16-22, and this year the message is simple: pass up on plastics.

Our beautiful country needs help to protect its precious biodiversity. Plastic that ends up in the environment can take up to 500 years to break down and can harm animals that ingest it. So we at Mornington Peninsula Magazine are joining Keep Australia Beautiful in calling on all Aussies to make a pledge to ditch a plastic item for Keep Australia Beautiful Week.

Big changes start small, and we’re hoping that using alternatives to plastic for a week will inspire everyone to give up plastics for ever.

So let’s take the challenge. Make a pledge to give up these items for a week:

Takeaway coffee cups and lids

Disposable masks

Plastic cutlery

Plastic drink bottles

Plastic fruit and veg containers

Takeaway containers

Cotton buds

To take part in the challenge, go to www.kab.org.au and commit to swapping your single-use plastic items with alternatives. You can also win great prizes. Spread the word and inspire others by sharing tips on how you are ditching plastic. Use the hashtags #plasticfreepeninsula and #MornPenMagNoToPlastic to post and spread the word on social media – and let’s make Australia plastics-free.