In an era of rapid climate change, overpopulation and depleting resources, I believe that it is up to each of us to do our part to help conserve the beautiful planet that we live on. So many people are enthusiastic about helping but are never sure how they can make a difference by themselves. One of the best ways you can do so is by switching to a low waste or low impact lifestyle.
As the name suggests, low waste living revolves around you reducing the amount of waste you generate on a daily basis. I have picked up a few tips and tricks from various articles and from Mehndi Shivdasani, a fellow low waste lifestyle follower who founded the informational page Conscious Chokri, and I can’t wait to share them with you!
Making the switch to a low waste lifestyle can be daunting, especially if you’re trying to do it all at once. The best way to go about it is by gradually making changes to your everyday routine. If you’re someone who is used to buying plastic bottles of water when you’re out and about, try carrying a water bottle with you instead. If you shave, try using a safety razor instead of a disposable one. You can even use earbuds that are made from bamboo sticks instead of plastic and switch to a bamboo toothbrush. It is these little things that we don’t pay much attention to that eventually play a big part in forming our lifestyle.
There is a common misconception that living a low waste or low impact lifestyle forms a hole in your wallet, but actually, one ends up saving far more money than they normally would. If you keep in mind the concept of reduce, reuse and recycle— you can save on unnecessary expenditure. Making mindful purchases and investing in good quality products instead of buying several cheap items that get spoilt easily benefits both your bank account and the environment.
The perks of living in a country like India is that shopping in bulk at our kiranas ensures less waste in packaging as well as less consumption of fuel to travel. You can also easily repair old shoes at the cobbler and even fix or upcycle old clothes into something new at the tailors. We even have easy access to rich herbs that the previous generations, such as our grandmother and great grandparents, used to use to make their own herbal soaps, shampoos and skincare products. So you see, part of adopting and embracing a low waste lifestyle in India involves going back to our roots and relearning our traditional methods of living.
When you are going grocery shopping, carry your own bags instead of accepting the plastic bags at the shops. If you’re buying grains and pulses, try carrying your dubbas or glass jars so that you can empty the produce into that directly and give the plastic bag back to the store owner. Now it’s not like you can completely eliminate the use of plastic in your life, that would be next to impossible. But you can keep the plastic bags and containers that you have at home and reuse them until they’re ready to be recycled.
If you love shopping try purchasing your clothes from a thrift store or vintage stores, there are numerous ones available on Instagram. Don’t forget to donate your clothes that you have grown bored of or outgrown if they are still in good condition. Otherwise, you can repurpose them into wiping rags or make a patchwork blanket. Another thing you can incorporate into your routine is using menstrual cups instead of sanitary pads. This switch might be a little uncomfortable at first but once you get the hang of it, it is the perfect option.
Living a low waste lifestyle isn’t just important from an environmental lens but from a financial lens, a social justice lens and a people justice lens as well. Employing people to pick and rummage through the country’s trash and waste is one of the biggest injustices in the world. Why should it be someone else’s job to rummage through the trash that we create? Sadly most of our garbage collectors in India aren’t equipped with the right gear and safety equipment to protect themselves. If each of us does our small part in segregating our trash correctly and composting our wet waste, we would be helping the men and women to have to sift through our garbage every day.
While are there are many more things that you can incorporate into your lives, we here at Roadfolk Magazine urge you to try and practice some of these easier low waste methods. After all, every drop makes an ocean!
Written By Jessica Albuquerque,
Week 33, August 2021
