PART 1: How to begin without spending!
Starting a sustainable living doesn’t mean you need to dispose everything that is non-eco-friendly in your home and replace them with eco-stuff.
With the kind of living we have now, we are to go down into the basics we knew since we were kids:
REDUCE
REUSE
RECYCLE
Sounds boring and cliché?
Let’s put some drama to it, shall we?
Meet three kinds of friends while following three simple steps in starting your sustainable living journey!
3R Cycle Step 1:
Hello, Plastic PLASTICS
If Plastic is trying to be your friend, you are not being mean if you turn them away. They may be clear, light, and clean looking, BUT let me tell you – they are plastic (figuratively)!
Sadly, we all got hold of A LOT of them, plastics. Since we can’t get away with them that easily, let us use them for a somewhat advantage.
Reuse reusable plastic bags.
Sounds a bit redundant but there is a fine line between single-use plastics and those reusable ones, so, be aware of those!
Reusable plastics are quite sturdy, can be reused a lot of times, and can be sanitized, too!
Going for a grocery run? Why not bring those previous bags you got and reuse them as grocery bags again! And again.. And again.. until it wears off.
“Hey, can I just use my cloth bags?”
By all means, YES! Just in case you don’t have one, YOU DON’T NEED TO BUY. Reuse whatever you have.
Reuse reusable plastic containers.
Same concept applies with the plastic bags.
Remember those take-outs you had for weeks? You have piled up a ton of food containers, right? BUT not all containers are made the same, so, do some research first to which can be used again for food. If not, reuse them as containers for other stuffs!
“Uhm, like how to reuse them?”
Be creative!
You can reuse them as storage for trinkets, some medicine, dry herbs, and a lot more! You can even use them as a potting container for planting!
Just make sure to wash them thoroughly before reusing!
3R Cycle Step 2:
Ditch the Singles
For the record, there is nothing wrong about being SINGLE—except for SINGLE-USE PLASTICS.
If our previous friend can be a friend for months or years depending on our care for them, this single friend of ours cannot be kept for long. Ooops, sorry! And a grave sorry for Mother Nature!
For us not to pile a lot of convenient-but-not-friendly friend, we must practice Bring Your Own (BYO)… utensils! (spoon, fork, knives, straws, reusable food containers, etc.)
First of all, you don’t need to buy new set of utensils for you to bring out. You can always use those extra spoons and fork (and whatever you need) you have at home, place it in a clean container, wrap in clean cloth, or put them all in a small bag, then you are good to go.
This step just needs a bit of practice and diligence for it to be a habit. Don’t shy away because you seemed different from the crowd! Make them see how your small act could be beneficial. Be the influencer!
3R Cycle Step 3:
Skip the Tissue-issue
his last friend has been the star of the night (pandemic). Who could’ve thought that she was the sought-after or go-to friend of everybody? She was a star… but have fallen from grace. Why? She was just used to wipe all our problems and then thrown away.
Remember, tissue paper is not reusable. Miserable.
Next to plastics, tissue paper is a convenient product to use. Just tear-wipe-throw, and your problem is done! Magic! But do you know the gruesome reality of your wastage?
In 2010, 27,000 trees A DAY are wiped out just for tissue paper use1. What more a decade after?
So what to do? We should take our action, NOW.
Skipping the use of tissue paper is just very simple.
When eating out, you can use your handkerchiefs or any small towel you may bring.
“Wet wipes??? “
(rolling eyes)
Let us not even start talking about that! And NO, don’t use it as an alternative to tissue!
Instead, you may use some cotton towels, reusable pads, or clean cloth cut-outs, soak them in a minimum amount of safe disinfectant, soap solution, or alcohol that can be used for cleaning. Store them in your reusable containers.
These can we reused again just by washing them like how we wash our clothes.
“Hey, what about toilet needs?!”
Why do we choose tissue over soap and water for this? If the latter is not available, you may use the alternative wipes and may dispose them properly OR store them until time for cleaning.
With this simple step, your tissue friend would rest peacefully from all our dirty issues.
Too much effort?
Well, nature already took its toll and it is presently backfiring. Why complain now?
Living sustainably starting from what is at hand is truly challenging. You don’t need to start from scratch. We can reassess what we aready have and start:
REUSING whatever we have now. Reuse until it all wears off or cannot be fixed.
Through the simple step of reusing, we are mindlessly REDUCING the consumption of plastics and tissue paper.
Making use of plastics for other functions or using alternatives to tissue paper is already RECYCLING.
And somehow, we are now set to be consciously taking action to whatever we consume and use.
Starting something doesn’t have to be grandiose. From these small simple steps and making it a habit and influence others to do the same would make a big IMPACT!
START SMALL, START NOW!
(Even without spending)
REFERENCE:
1. Braun, D. (2010, April 16). Toilet paper wipes out 27,000 trees a day. National Geographic Society Newsroom. https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2010/04/16/toilet-paper-wipes-out-27000-trees-a-day/
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