Today, June 8, is No Plastic Day. Whether you’re a die-hard environmentalist, a moderate conservative who wishes to curb his or her spending and waste (you could be both!), or simply against people being plastic (Remember using that as an adjective for “phonies”? How Holden Caulfield of us all!), here are a few things you can do to help vote plastic off the island.

5. Don’t Use Plastic

Yeah, this one’s a pretty obvious action—but it’s also probably the hardest on the list. Sure, you can stop using plastic bags and use reusable ones instead—but what about cups, Tupperware, CDs, USB drives, MP3 players, cell phones… you get the idea. Life as we know it would not exist without plastic, yet the stuff—as convenient and cheap as it is—leads to damage to our environment as well as ourselves. So cut as much plastic as you can from your life—and refuse to buy any more unless it’s absolutely necessary.

4. Share Stories

We were buying groceries the other day and the checkout person informed us that we didn’t have enough, and would we like our bread to go in a plastic bag? I quickly jumped in and said no thank you, and explained that we didn’t support plastic as often as we could avoid it. At her quizzical look, I told her about the whale who was found with several feet of plastic bags in his stomach who died. She was utterly horrified—and hadn’t heard the story before. Share your stories like this one—or forward friends photos of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—to get people talking and stop using plastic.

3. Push for a Bag Ban

Several communities have successfully implemented plastic bag—as well as plastic bottle—bans to combat the sea of plastic being mass produced. If we could do this on a national scale, imagine how much plastic we could cut from our waste. Petition your City Hall to do this in your community—start a club if you like, or have members of your church or volunteer group get involved. You can also give reusable bags as gifts to family members.

2. Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

This is another given—but do you do it? Before you even purchase a product, add another “R”—reflect on whether or not you truly need it. After using a product, see if you can reuse it somehow. Can you make it into a plant pot, gift, craft, art project, bird feeder, game? If you’ve exhausted the product, recycle it—don’t just throw it into the garbage. Give it a new life.

1. Sign the Pledge

The easiest thing you can do today is to sign the pledge to be more aware about the plastics in your life—and to not purchase disposable plastic products if you can help it.