Approaching a more sustainable lifestyle – My plan

I was introduced to an eco-friendly lifestyle by a friend, who's been living following this approach for quite a while now. She showed me a new world when she talked to me about her mooncup (sanitary cup), and said what a game changer it had been for her; not only because it made her life easier, but also for the massive, positive impact it had on the ecosystem. Pads and tampons are not recyclable, if you think of the amount every woman use in a month – not to talk of in a year or in a lifetime! – that really makes a change (other than helping in saving so much money).

After having discovered that, I started to wonder whether I could both reduce rubbish production and save money in other ways. Again, this friend of mine came in help, and gave me a few tips and suggestions. Now, it has become one of my biggest goal for the year to live by a more sustainable lifestyle, drastically reduce waste, and involve in this little plan as many people as I can.

Cause the truth is, you need a plan. And you need to take little steps. It is absolutely impossible to stop producing waste from a day to another; I've seen videos on youtube of families showing the amount of their monthly waste in a glass jar. No, I am sure that I can't be so good and only produce a handful of waste in a month by myself (let alone if I had a family), but according to my possibilities and needs, I will do my best. So, this is my plan.

Change my lifestyle, little by little

I think the first, most important thing to do is have a look at our lifestyle, and start changing that if it is not right. From my part, I already use fabric bags when doing my grocery shopping, and stopped using plastic bags long time ago. I also bought a reusable cup, and always use that whenever I fancy a coffee in a coffee shop, other than bringing it with me at work. As beginning from last month I started using a sanitary cup, I won't buy any more tampons or pads, reducing in this way a lot of waste production.

As I would like to reduce the amount of plastic I buy, I will try to stop buying it whenever I can: I will prefer glass, bamboo and steel containers over plastic ones when needed, and approach a more minimalist lifestyle. I will buy something only If I really, really need it, and not just because its cute or cheap. That will apply to everything, from clothes to accessories, from house décor to kitchen tools.

Now, those simple steps already make a very big difference, and I think that any person who would like to approach a more eco-friendly life style might take them as a good starting point.

Are there any more things I could do? Of course.

Recycle properly

I live in England, in a small village that, I have to say, still is so behind from a recycling point of view. There is no compose recycling, no clear, specific rules about what and when recycle certain items, and to be honest, so many people I know in town don't really recycle at all. That is very sad. So, from now on, I will definitely do a more accurate recycling, and will send an email to my council in regards to compose waste, as there might actually be plans in action about it, and I might not be aware of them.

Prefer loose goods over plastic wrapped goods

When it comes to grocery shopping, from now on I will prefer buying loose goods other than plastic wrapped ones. Supermarkets usually give choice, and although plastic wrapped are less expensive (yes, you read well), I will rather spending a bit more and not waste. Where possible, I will grocery shopping at the local market, as goods there are never wrapped up.

I am talking about vegetables here, but not only: you can buy loose nuts (take Holland and Barrett, for example, they do it), pasta, lentils, fruits, bread, and so much more.

Stop buying plastic bottles

Plastic bottles really are an issue. I stopped buying them long time ago, as I bought a glass jar instead, and drink filtered tap water. That is again, money and waste saving. If you like to carry a bottle of water with you when you go out, you can opt for a reusable steel bottle; there are tons on the market now, and many of them are temperature controller, so you can use them for both your hot and cold drinks.

Are there other things you can do? Yes. You can swap plastic straws with bamboo ones; plastic cutlery with bamboo/steel ones; single use pads with fabric reusable ones; makeup pads with reusable fabric ones; plastic earbuds with bamboo ones; you can swap your shampoo and conditioner with solid ones (lke the ones sold in Lush) and reduce plastic bottles waste).

All of these things though, as you might have notice, require swapping things that you have with new ones. And that is a trap. Because yes, it is great that you want to swap the items you use with some more eco-friendly and reusable ones, but the purpose of zero waste is to reduce waste, not to pile up stuff on stuff. So my suggestion is:

First use up properly what you have: if you still have two bottles of shampoo in your bathroom don't throw them away just because you want to use some solid one; if you still have plastic earbuds use them up first, and then swap for bamboo ones.

Only buy new things if you really need them: if you never used an earbud in your life, why bothering buying bamboo ones? Even if they're recyclable, if you don't need them, don't buy them. One of the first rule of an eco-friendly lifestyle is to approach and adopt a more minimalist lifestyle too.

Don't make it become a momentary fashion: if you really want to do something for the environment, then live according to a more eco-friendly lifestyle in total, don't make it be just another fashion. Don't be blinded by the cute bamboo packaging, or run to buy a reusable cup because your best friend has one. Make it a lifetime goal, and stick to it.

I hope you might find this little ramble of mine of any help. If you would like to approach a more sustainable lifestyle too, and you have a plan in mind, please do share that with me. As the Zero Waste slogan says, we don't need a handful people doing it perfectly, we need a million people doing it imperfectly. And that's when we're going to make a change.

M.