Naturally! green thinking. My very own path to go less waste.

I like to engage in initiatives that go along with my values, beliefs, views or dreams. I honestly admit that if the idea takes over my head – I’m lost in it completely and devote a lot of time to my chosen activities to bring measurable results. Sometimes I fall for it too much and I slightly neglect other things, which are also equally important in life, well it happens 🙂 And that actually happened for last two months – in June Chennai Coastal Cleanup event to clean the coast of South India (organized by the Chennai Trekking Club, an organization which I joined in 2013) and in July: Plastic Free July – I write about it later down. I will focus on two initiatives that pushed me and convinced me that it is worth going towards caring for the environment, and if it is supported by a whole bunch of people –  motivation reaches sky. Could you imagine that cleaning the coast by CTC volunteers is organized for the 8th time! See how big this event was!

CTC’s major annual campaign to create awareness on environmental sustainability. The Chennai Coastal Cleanup involves 5000+ volunteers from 130+ Organizations coming together to remove 50 tonnes of garbage from 20km of Chennai’s beaches. Regional NGOs from 14 major cities in South India will join hands under India Clean Sweep.

source: Chennai Trekking Club

source: Chennai Trekking Club

Great spirit of volunteers, organizations, companies. However, I believe and keep my fingers crossed that such actions will not have to be repeated too often, and people will start to notice that maintaining low environmental impact and a clean beach is in the interest of all of us.

Not that long time ago I also pledged to start more conscious life, be aware of minimizing use of plastic in my everyday life and that perfectly matches a wonderful idea, great eco action that I’m going to recommend to you: Plastic Free July. It’s amazing and contains a lot of practical information, especially for beginners – tips on how to start reducing the plastics in our lives, what substitutes to use and where to look for inspiration, references. I sincerely admit that it is my initial knowledge portal – and I do use it often!

This action actually triggered my every day try to live less (ideally zero) waste life.

Based on such initiatives, I already made some changes to my (and my family’s) lifestyle.

• I decided to cut the flood of plastic – especially plastic bags during shopping (we decided to go for a big shopping once a month – for general things in the stores, and buy fresh fruit and vegetables in our local markets)
• I segregate the garbage – for waste management I mostly focused on segregation of plastic, I found an organization that collects all sorts of plastic packages (for free) – and processes them for fuel (you can read about them under this link)
• I drink coffee / tea in my own ceramic mug – whether in the office, canteen or home
• I always carry a spoon (regularly avoiding plastic cutlery)
• I bring my own food / lunch container every day to work
• I drink water from reusable bottles

Due to the promise I made in June this year to reduce – and gradually eliminate plastic from my daily life, I planned few actions that will contribute to my gradual progression. Plastic Free July initiative is the perfect adds-in motivation! Extra information can be of course found on the creators page.

Here is a list of my top 5 things to focus on in the close future

Of course, I still have no much influence on many packages. I cannot forbid large corporations / factories from producing plastic bags, plastic bottles or plastic food containers. Shifting to no-plastic-life requires top-down and global involvement, changing perceptions of people’s minds and though I know and understand – it will take lot of time – so I truly recommend local involvement, personal, daily, regular, small and conscious choices. However, I strongly believe that the consumer choices we make every day can become a threshold for producers. And what if each of us said “no!” and stop buying products in plastic packaging? Can you imagine anyone who wants to produce something that they won’t sell? Will this bring us closer to life without or with less plastic?

On the other hand, unfortunately, organic products and their packaging are more expensive, their price is often much too excessive. Especially, on ordering products on Internet, you never know how much wrapper you will get for your dream lipstick, nail polish or watch. But, there is a small but anyway. Anywhere we can decide what package we choose, let’s do it consciously, and let’s have the courage to go mainstream!

Thank you very much for reading this article. I am curious what are your ways – ideas to enter the less waste lifestyle – please share them below in comments. And if you liked the article – share it, click “Like it” and subscribe to my newsletter.