It’s zero waste month this January and people are doing their share. I see Facebook posts about how my friends manage to lessen their wastes, from using eco-bags and refraining from buying bottled water by bringing their own tumblers wherever they went. I also came across Lauren Singer on Facebook not so long ago. She’s the founder of The Simply Co., and her trash for the past three years or so can fit in a small mason jar. It intrigued me and did some research, and I’ve found out that the zero waste life has already been a practice by many people across the globe. It got me excited and I even arranged my schedule so I could scour my house for the things I need so I could join the campaign. But then it dawned on me—how the heck am I going to do this?
My lifestyle isn’t that complicated, but there are just a lot of things I cannot simply give up. Aside from the obvious thing of not having a bulk store or a package-free shop in my area (when you’re from the working class there’s not much of an option, especially here in the Philippines), there are things that give me convenience that I just couldn’t give up, plus, they guaranteed me a “normal” life. So, I am not quite sure on how I am going to start a new lifestyle without them.
My prescriptions. I have a condition that debilitates me with its symptoms, and the only way I’d be able to fight it back, is to take my meds. I couldn’t imagine how many little bottles of pyridostigmine I have already consumed in the three years that I have to deal with myasthenia gravis. The blister packs of my other meds are just a fraction of the waste I am producing. Gosh, medicine packages should be eco-friendly too!
Skincare routine. It hasn’t been a year since I started my new skincare routine, and these packs happen to be my favorite part. Yes, sheet masks are just heavenly and I’ve been enjoying the results ever since I used them. Am I willing to give these up in order to produce less waste? To be honest, I really don’t know.
Sanitary napkins. In the extensive research (big word, that one, huh?) that I did about zero waste lifestyle, women are promoting reusable fabric pads and, err… menstrual cups. Okay, it’s not the first time I’ve heard of these things. I remember my mom used to have those fabric pads, and there’s an online community I’m in that talked about menstrual cups. Just imagining the process that I have to go through in using the lesser-waste items makes me tired and grumpy. I guess I couldn’t just give up this one of the few conveniences that I live with.
Pen and paper. What is life without pen and paper? This is the tagline I used to have in the older blogs I had before. I guess, as a writer, pen and paper have already been a part of my life. I mean, there’s already my phone that would remind me of my schedule for the day, the week, the month, and the year, and there’s also my computer for writing prose and stuff, but manual writing is still different.
I know this is not dead-end for me. Maybe the zero waste lifestyle isn’t for me, but I could still lead a “lesser-waste” life, right? Maybe I’d just take it one step at a time. Who knows, maybe in the coming years, I don’t need to take meds anymore. Let’s see where this reflection takes me. 🙂
I’d love to hear your thoughts about this in the comments section.
Spread the looooove!
xoxo,
Beth G. ♥
Yes, maybe I could try doing it, start with the things I could easily give up. Thank you so much for affirming I could still do this without giving up the things I am used to. ❤
For me Minimalism and Zero Waste will always be a way of life but never a destination. I myself couldn’t live without my Bulletjournal and for me that is totally fine. i try to reduce my waste in other aspects of my life (my safety razor, reusable veggiebags, sandwichbags, etc.). You go girl! ❤
[…] paperworks, receipts for discounted grocery items and a lot more items that can be found here are just unavoidable in my kind of life. But I suppose papers cam be recycled and in one of the […]
Absolutely! ❤
It’s zero waste month this January and people are doing their share. I see Facebook posts about how my friends manage to lessen their wastes, from using eco-bags and refraining from buying bottled water by bringing their own tumblers wherever they went. I also came across Lauren Singer on Facebook not so long ago. She’s the founder of The Simply Co., and her trash for the past three years or so can fit in a small mason jar. It intrigued me and did some research, and I’ve found out that the zero waste life has already been a practice by many people across the globe. It got me excited and I even arranged my schedule so I could scour my house for the things I need so I could join the campaign. But then it dawned on me—how the heck am I going to do this?
I remember my mom used to have those fabric pads, and there’s an online community I’m in that talked about menstrual cups. Just imagining the process that I have to go through in using the lesser-waste items makes me tired and grumpy. It intrigued me and did some research, and I’ve found out that the zero waste life has already been a practice by many people across the globe. eco store adelaide