ecofriendly

Sustainable living is a lifestyle choice you make to tackle the dangerous consumerism mindset in you. Let me help you understand how small changes can add up to big savings, for your pockets as well as for the environment. Yes, it might feel like the little things you do for the environment are just a drop in the vast ocean of unawareness, but keep in mind that your action inspires others.

We are all trapped in the vicious circle of life, spending most of our time working, nose to the grind with no energy left to think about our way of living and our contributions to the environment. We hear people around us say over and over again that living sustainably

The world sees at least 2000 tonnes of plastic waste accumulated from straws, reaching the ocean each year. This amounts to a sixty-seventh, or 1.5% of the total single-use plastic waste generated on a yearly basis internationally. You must have seen the painfully upsetting video of a turtle being rescued after injuries from a plastic straw in its nose. Did you know that more than a million seabirds die every year from choking on plastic straws, which they mistake for food? In fact, because of straws, bottles and other such products, there is a high concentration of microplastics even in our drinking water and the salt we consume. This also applies to the seafood industry, most shellfish, fish and crustaceans inevitably have microplastics in their system that is not visible to us and finally entering our systems.

While straws don’t have too much of a useful purpose to serve, they are indeed handy in stirring or scooping,

How safely and responsibly do you dispose of the water used to clean your house? We know that our laundry, bath and kitchen waste water have nowhere else to go other than down the drain, but do we take the effort to find out where it will end up eventually? While most wastewater is treated and cleaned to be sent back into circulation for use, some of it ends up reaching natural water bodies, causing pollution and damage to the life there. More than waste from homes posing a risk, industrial waste most often goes into these rivers, lakes, and sometimes directly into the ocean. The least we can do is check the harmful effects caused by chemicals in our cleaning products, and make changes accordingly.

While most of our floor, glass, toilet cleaning and detergent fluids contain highly toxic chemicals, we haven’t looked around much to see if there are sustainable solutions which can replace these in a daily use situation. I hadn’t,

The rising concern of environmental damage and consequential global warming is the industry of toiletries, cosmetics and perfume. Chemicals are used in large amounts, wasted, and often let off into rivers or lakes or the ocean, subsequently poisoning aquatic life, and causing diseases when we consume the water. The products we use are often made up of sulfates, parabens, pH balancing agents and artificial dyes, which are also bad for our skin in the long run. What’s worse is that most cosmetic products are sold in wasteful plastic packaging which can only be used once. It is in our own interest to help ourselves by indulging in more organic products made from herbal ingredients, without the addition of harmful chemicals. There are nowadays many options in the market which come in eco-friendly packaging and with all the ingredients publicly disclosed for our knowledge. It is often a problem for us to buy cosmetic products and toiletries in travel size, which results in more plastic waste

In a constant chase for the best aesthetic appearance of everything we make or buy, we have little or no consideration for sustainability of the materials used, and the methods by which they are sourced. We often end up wasting resources that can be of good use, even if it means trimming off the extra crusty bits of your freshly made waffle, which taste just as good but may not add up for the attractive visual factor. We do the same with other practices in our lifestyle when we choose our clothing, design our living spaces and whatnot. It becomes very difficult to track the sources of every product you consume, but it is always helpful to educate oneself on the impact of production, wastage and disposal of these things.

Old buildings were mostly constructed with mud, clay and organic materials which had naturally sustainable cooling and insulating properties. Eventually, people made the switch to cement, steel

In India, waste management has always been a hard feat to overcome, both by the public as well as administrative bodies. In order to accommodate the buying habits of people in smaller quantities and more frequent purchases, more and more plastic has been making its way to the landfills, ending up in the ocean and lakes, being thrown out by families in outdoor locations, etc. Sometimes we are forced to buy a water bottle outside or consume biscuits that come in 2 layers of plastic packaging, and even the ones that come individually wrapped. There has been a recent positive impact though, since the ban of single-use plastics, which finally pushed all small shops and food establishments to switch to more eco-friendly products. Even if plastic bags are given out today, it is ensured that they are under a thickness of 50 microns, which is safe to be disposed of and decomposed naturally.

One of the greatest issues we

Who knew there would be a day when we would all be forced to stay home, unable to see anyone, and the world would eventually take a break?
The Covid-19 lock-down enforced 8 months ago confined humans to where they were and eventually took a deep breath from our mother Earth and regained some of its magic. Rivers were washed a bit, animals and birds were seen, air cleaned up and noise decreased.

The most significant thing was how much we influenced our world and how it would look if we only avoided fouling it, of all the things we learned in this pandemic.