2 Easy Steps to Embrace Sustainable Living

Rather than boring you with common information on sustainable living, how about we get straight to the point.

Here I hope to give you just 2 products which I believe would have a huge impact on your life and will aid you in reaching one step closer to your goal of sustainable living. You can replace these products without making much change in your daily life. It would require little effort in making changes in your quest for a more sustainable lifestyle.

Without wasting any time, let me give you the list of 2 items which you need to change and I have been doing for the past 8+ years and I believe that I did make a little positive change in the environment and did my part towards sustainable living.

Sustainable Living: Small Steps Have Big Impact

These are very simple changes that can be easily accommodate in your daily life and will have a huge impact on environment and you can contribute towards sustainable living.

Menstrual Cup

Every woman and girl has periods, and there is no escaping them. For years, we have relied on sanitary pads that contain dangerous chemicals. In recent years, many women have switched toward tampons, which are more convenient but have recognized adverse effects. Pads and tampons are both harmful to the environment and must be disposed of separately. In the end both end up in landfills.

After giving birth to my youngest child, I began using a menstrual cup due to heavy flow and the discomfort of sanitary pads. It’s been 8+ years, and I can’t image getting through my periods without it. Due to my short height and relatively slim frame, I wanted a smaller size, and after testing several brands, I discovered that the Diva Menstrual Cup and Rustic Art (an Indian brand) were the greatest fit for me. You can try different brands and select based on your preferences.

Using a menstrual cup has transformed how I manage my periods. It even helps to relieve menstruation pain. Surprisingly, the same cup has lasted me more than 8 years and still has a few years of use left.

Consider how much plastic garbage I’ve avoided with one single switch! After two years of using the cup, I began suggesting it to my family and friends. Convincing them required effort, but many have tried it and now enjoy it. The menstrual cup is one of the most effective ways to manage periods sustainably and comfortably with a sustainable living approach.

Can you imagine the number of pads or tampons used in the lifetime of one woman? Approximately a single woman will use 9,600 pads or tampons in her life time. What a staggering amount of plastic we are putting in for disposal or practically in landfills. Assuming that a woman bleed every month for 5 days and use 4 pads a day for almost 40 years during our lifetime.

While if a woman use menstrual cup she might end up using 5-8 cups in her entire life. Look at the numbers and you will not need anyone else to convince you to move to menstrual cup. This is one of my biggest change towards sustainable living.

Just some highlights of Menstrual cup

• Various models can hold up to 6 regular tampons of flow. Select the model based on your body type. General rule is sexually active women should go for model 2 and others should go for model 0 or 1.
• Model 0 or 1 is best for first-time users or for slim vaginal canals.
• Flexible 100% medical grade silicone folds for easy insertion. 
• Safe for up to 12 hours of continuous wear. 
• Visible flow lines to keep track of your period. 
• Leak-resistant air holes create a seal to secure the cup in place. 
• Easy to grip for hassle-free removal. 
• Life span of up to 10 years means nothing goes to landfill on daily/monthly basis.

Replace Plastic bags with Reusable Cloth bags

I remember my parent’s generation some 30 years ago, they simply used to use clothes bags that also had bags stitched at home with used clothes. In particular, all t-shirts were reused to make bags. Not only our family, almost everyone will be having similar types of bags and it was a done thing. After some time, the plastic bag revolution came and everyone started using plastic bags. As far as I remember from my school days the transition from clothes bags to plastic bags was so smooth that no one realized it and it just happened organically.

But it took almost 20 years of clogged waterways, whales washing on the sea shores with stomach full of plastic to realize the impact of this one item on planet earth. There are so many negative things we can talk about here but our purpose is to make a positive change towards sustainable living. However small the impact is, it will matter in the long term.

I had a horrific incident that made me conscious of my plastic bag usage. I saw few street dogs eating leftover food directly from plastic bags from a dumpster in Thailand while I was on holiday. I got a shock of my life as being living in the city area, you don’t see street animals and with our busy lifestyle, we generally don’t focus on the impact of our actions. This startled me and I just asked myself, what can I do to make things better? I knew that my doing alone may not have a major impact on the environment but I had to start from somewhere. I reviewed my lifestyle which just took a few minutes as I was still holding a disposable plastic water bottle in a disposable plastic bag. It just hit me right then and there. What am I doing? If I am doing this every day, I am one of the causes of this destruction on earth. That was the moment, I decided to reduce my plastic usage.

I am committed towards eliminating plastic from my life and slowly but surely replacing (only after the existing product spoiled or badly need replacement) all my kitchen gadgets. I have upgraded to Zulay Orange Squeezer as not only me but my entire family is crazy about Orange juice and we just can’t function without it. This amazing juicer is made of cast iron and stainless steel and comes with life time warranty, which is amazing for my sustainable living commitment to myself.

Another gadget which i replaced in the last few months is my garlic press and at last splurged on GormetEasy Garlic Press. I had to buy this as this is made of stainless steel which justifies my sustainable living principle and it also comes with 5 years warranty so i am sure i am going to use it for longer duration than the normal plastic ones available online or on shops.

It took me a while to get my family members to get on the same understanding as me but now everyone is so used to taking cloth bags with them that even when we are packing for any holiday first thing that comes in our hand luggage is a folding cloth bag. Even if I am not going with them, they just pick up few cloth bags to carry with them irrespective of the amount of shopping they are going to do.

Another argument people have for me is that stores are already moving to paper bags so why carry clothes bags? Paper is surely better than plastic but it does need trees and a whole lot of water before it becomes usable.

Let’s talk about numbers, a family of 4 people on average goes grocery shopping twice a week and in general, will use at least 8-10 disposable plastic bags. This makes it 835 disposable plastic bags in a year. This number is on the lower end, as we have not included the number of shopping trips we make for other stuff. Suppose we start using clothes reusable bags which generally have a life span of at least 10-15 years (I can speak for myself as I have been using the same grocery bags for the past 10+ years and they are still as strong as I bought them). Occasionally even if you take plastic bags you can imagine the reduction in the landfill by just one family.

After i got used to buying almost all my groceries in clothes reusable bags, i ended up buying some pretty ones for other shopping and even for kids as they have also stopped using plastic bags. I bought “BeeGreen Reusable-Grocery-Bags-Foldable-Machine-Washable-Reusable-Shopping-Bags-Bulk Colorful 10 Pack 50LBS” from Amazon. Amazing part of these bags is that they are machine washable.

I am not saying it will be easy but there are some simple steps to make it a habit.

• Keep them accessible, especially at the entrance where you can see them while stepping out.
• Keep some of them in your car.
• Keep folding bags in your purse, office bags, or any other bags that you generally take while going out.
• Train kids to use cloth bags as they are the best reminders.
• Talk about it with family and friends and make this a prestigious idea to carry your clothes reusable bags.
• Get some pretty clothes reusable bags which will make you stand out in the crowd.

I started alone but was able to influence several friends, colleagues and extended family members. I do feel very proud when I get my groceries in my cloth bags instead of taking individual plastic bags.

I have reduced my plastic bag usage from at least 80 bags per month to a maximum of 2 bags in a month. I know Its still bad but there are still times when I end up taking a plastic bag once in a while especially during impulse buying or sometimes shopping more than planned.

Small Steps: Big Impact

Before you start replacing any of your daily practices, remember to ask yourself why do you want to do it. Every individual will have a different reason. My main reason was to leave better living conditions not only for my kids but also for other living beings. Your purpose might be entirely different but it doesn’t matter. What matters is your commitment to your unique cause. Its not the amount of change you are making, its the consistency of you doing it. Start small but start and be consistent. That’s my motto for anything and everything in life.

There are several other idea but i feel if you can start with just the above two items, you will do an amazing contribution to your sustainable living commitment.

You can read our other blog posts here.

FAQ

I personally prefer all the information along with most frequently asked questions in one place. All the information at one place will surely reduce my time to decide things and it would be a good read too. Now that i am starting to write my blogpost, i am adding the most frequently asked questions on google here. This will save your time as you don’t need to go back to google to search for these questions.

• How can you live sustainably?
  • Go Green: 10 Tips for a More Sustainable Lifestyle
    • Avoid Single-Use Plastics. …
    • Recycle. …
    • Reduce Food Waste. …
    • Conserve Water. …
    • Offset Your Carbon Emissions. …
    • Invest in Sustainable Cleaning and Beauty Products. …
    • Practice Sustainability Outdoors. …
    • Support Environmental Causes, Sustainable Businesses, and Vote.
• Why is sustainable living so important?
  • By living sustainably, we minimize the negative impact our lifestyles have on the planet and emphasize the behaviors that benefit the environment. Sustainability offers us a chance to take some control over our lifestyles and make healthier choices for our planet and future generations.
• What is sustainable living vs non sustainable living?
  • Unsustainable living practices are leading to severe environmental damage and loss of biodiversity. Sustainable living not only benefits the environment but also enhances our physical, psychological, and social well-being. Individual actions can make a significant difference in promoting sustainable living.
• Does sustainable living make a difference?
  • Living a more sustainable life not only limits your own carbon footprint, but it can also help contribute to the kind of major industry and government changes that we need.
• What are 3 examples of living sustainably or being sustainable?
  • Use less water. …
  • Start a compost bin. …
  • Consume fewer products overall. …
• Why is it difficult to live sustainably?
  • Honestly, living a greener lifestyle takes effort. It’s not difficult, but it requires brain space and conscious actions to continue to make sustainable choices. Unfortunately, when our mental health deteriorates, maintaining these habits isn’t always possible because we just don’t have the stamina and are not consistence.
• Can you live self sustainably?
  • Yes, self-sustainable living is possible in the modern world. While achieving complete self-sufficiency may be challenging, it’s feasible to come close to it and significantly reduce our reliance on external systems. After all, self-sustainable living is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Objective should be start small but be consistence.
• What is one thing I can do today to live more sustainably?
  • You can start cutting down on your plastic waste in a few simple steps: Use reusable bag from or packaged in plastic whenever possible (e.g., select unwrapped produce at the grocery store).
• Do people want to live sustainably?
  • Nearly 9 in 10 People Globally Want a More Sustainable and Equitable World Post COVID-19. In a new World Economic Forum/Ipsos global survey of more than 21’000 adults, 86% say they want the world to change significantly and become more sustainable and equitable.
• The term sustainable living is often referred to as which of the following?
  • Sustainable living is often referred to as green living.
• What impact does sustainable living have?
  • Living sustainably can improve our life balance by reducing our dependence on vehicles or machinery. By being less reliant on vehicles, we’re more likely to walk or cycle, which helps us create healthier habits. We can also live healthier lives by consuming high-quality, local foods.
• What does sustainable living look like?
  • First, realize that there is no absolute sustainable living definition; it means different things to different people, but in an overall nutshell, living sustainably means minimizing your use of Earth’s resources and reducing the damage of human and environmental interactions.

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