This particular day really changed my role and my purpose in my life. The day when I scroll down the YouTube and a video that luckily caught my eye to see the other side of world. The video that showed me my beloved nature I was growing up with is piled with mountain-like trash. I could see a patch of garbage (a really big one) was floating on the Pacific Ocean. I feel so surprised, shocked and overwhelmed to see the world caused by me, you, and us, human. That video made me have a sleepless night as I couldn't take the ugly truth that I was one of the cause for this disaster.
This is when I decided I should change my habits and lifestyle right at this moment without wasting any more time. And so I made some research on how I could make changes in order to prevent my Earth filled with trash instead of lives. Well, the solution that pop out my screen was the ZEROWASTE LIFESTYLE.
It has been 2 and a half years since I realised how much waste I had been producing in my daily life and how much of an impact it was having on the environment and the lives of those on the Earth. Since then, I've made a promise to myself not to leave a dumpster-like Earth for my children, and so here I am to share you a few ways on how I'm gradually adapting to a zero-waste lifestyle from every aspects.
The first and, by far, the most important thing I do in order to reduce waste is to say a very big "NO" to single-use plastics.
1) I started to avoid plastic straws and utensils, instead using reusable ones.
2) I always bring my own food container whenever I want to buy food from my school canteen or any food stall.
3) I will also keep in mind to always bring reusable bags whenever I go shopping with my family.
(not all reusable bags are environmentally friendly because the majority of them are now made of nylon or polyester, which are both types of plastic. It is best to use reusable bags that are made of cotton.)
4) Stop eating junk foods, biscuits, sweets, ice-cream, snacks, and gardenia breads since they are packaged with single-use plastics.
(This might seem like a joke, but that's the truth, except for the time I will have them when I am hangry (hunger + angry). As a foodie, it was hard for me at first, but the satisfaction that I got from doing my best to save the world pleased my stomach enough.)
5) Refuse to wrap my school books in plastic wrappers or paper, despite the wishes of some teachers.
(This might be the simplest thing for some, but for a perfectionist like me, believe me, it's going to be hard. However, putting the Earth's cleanliness before my books ensures that I will stick with my promise.)
6) Avoid the frequent habit of buying foods, drinks, and things via online apps since they are all delivered with lots of plastic packaging.
(Did you know how heartbreaking it would be to see one item packaged with bubble plastic, shredded paper, another plastic on top of it, and, as a finishing touch, a box to put it all into? Really! That's a lot of plastic man! As a solution, you can either discipline yourself to shop online only when you desperately need to or look for online zero-waste shops that do plastic-free packaging.)
Another thing that comes into my mind when I ask myself the cause of my waste besides plastics was TISSUES. When I was a kid in my primary school, I used to say to my friends that I can't survive without tissues in my life. Would you believe me if I say I will finish off at least 3 pocket tissues per day and my pockets, desk, also bags will be piled up with my dirty tissues? Even worst, my class dustbin will be filled up full only by my tissues. Yes that's how bad my relationship with tissues until I found another ecofriendly alternative which is handkerchief... Taddaaa..
Lastly, I am also practising 5R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Repair & Rethink) in my daily life. For instance, recycling my school books, buy only necessities, using my phone instead of paper to note things down, stitch my torn clothes instead of purchasing a new one and reuse half-used papers to do maths instead of just dumping it into a trash can.
Well, there are many other ways you can follow from the Internet which are far more efficient in order to create a sustainable Earth, but for now, these are the things I could practise as I am still dependent on my parents for certain things. Not to mention that I am still not perfect in following what I mentioned above at all times. However, I will always try my best to make sure I am following what I preach. Then, you might ask me something. Will it work? Will it change the world if only a few do what you say? Or you might ask, why should I do it if others don't? As Greta Thunberg previously stated, hope comes from action.For the second question, my answer would be, no matter who is wrong, make sure you are always (maybe most of the time) right. After all, I don't think you will be answering your kids with something like "Well, I don't do my part because others don't." If they ask you "Mom or Dad, why didn't you preserve the Earth as it was for us?" If you answer so, it must be a shame on us. And from here, I hope you will have some thoughts about it and eventually put your thoughts into action. We must all work together to return the earth we have lent to future generations in its original condition, free of any fragile parts.Have a good day and bye bye, my friends. I'll see you in the next blog.
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