Blog Layout

How easy or difficult itis to change your habits!

Anupama Gokhale • Oct 01, 2020

Plastic is really a miracle material. In my many years of living independently, I have used a lot of plastic. Earlier I was not bothered about my purchases. If I was thirsty, I would buy a plastic packaged water bottle from the store. If I was shopping for groceries, I would use the plastic bags the store offered me. If I wanted a snack, I'd buy one pre-packaged meal, ready for me. 

If I had parties I would buy the disposable plates, spoons etc available at the supermarket for my convenience.

I have also grown up in a city in India with no experience of the outdoor life or nature. So shopping for functional things was natural. No thought, only convenient consumption. 

So needless to say this HABIT was a difficult one to BREAK. But when the realization came I knew I had to do it. Sometime back while doing a course on REIKI, I had learnt that if you repeatedly do a particular thing for 21 days then it becomes a habit. I decided to apply it. There are plenty of replacements for all these plastic items. In fact, these replacements existed well before plastic came along. My reusable water bottle replaced my need for buying plastic water bottles. I have cloth bags that now replace the plastic bags when I shop. And snacks are now carried from home before stepping out, in a steel box or a cloth bag. The solutions were already there. What I needed was a way to remember these solutions.

Getting into a new habit of remembering, was the bridge I needed to cross. The way I overcome it was by planning in advance. With no habit of prior planning, I went to weekly planning. Whatever was needed to be done in the week was listed down and then I had to find ways to do it without creating any waste out of it. This continued for few weeks until it turned into a habit which I was immensely happy about and gives me great satisfaction. The lesson I learnt during this process was going ‘plastic free’ or ‘zero waste’ is a lifestyle change that will take time. It’s a journey. Take it day-by-day and be proud of the little things you do, as this will help build your confidence for the bigger steps. You don’t need to go out and buy all the zero waste products! Look around your home first, see what things you can upcycle and creatively use what you already have.

HAPPY UPCYCLING!

-Anupama Gokhale


By Anupama Gokhale 26 Apr, 2024
If you want to store the green leafy vegetables in the produce bags, you just have to follow these simple steps. Spread the greens on the chopping board. Cut off the thick stems/ends. Take an upcycle produce bag in which you want to store the spinach. Wet the bag under running water. Then squeeze it well. Place the greens in the wet produce bag. Close the wet bag and store it in the vegetable drawer of your refrigerator. You greens will stay fresh for longer duration. Additional tip : By cutting off the ends most of the mud goes away. It is better not to wet the spinach before storing. But in case you do want to wash off the mud, then after washing the spinach spread it out on a towel and store as mentioned above once dry.
29 Sep, 2022
It may be hard to believe, but most brands of tea bags which you get in the market contain plastic.  We always believed that they are made of paper and hence they are good for the environment.  But in order to stop tea b...
29 Sep, 2022
We all know how the problem of plastic is responsible for polluting our land and oceans. Our addictions to single use plastic item has lead to a huge long term impact on the environment.
21 Sep, 2022
7 year old Nirvan was super excited! It was his birthday in a couple of weeks and he was already planning his guest list and cake. Most of all he was excited about gathering all of his friends together to celebrate. Ther...
By Anupama Gokhale 01 Oct, 2020
Plastic is really a miracle material. In my many years of living independently, I have used a lot of plastic. Earlier I was not bothered about my purchases. If I was thirsty, I would buy a plastic packaged water bottle from the store. If I was shopping for groceries, I would use the plastic bags the store offered me. If I wanted a snack, I'd buy one pre-packaged meal, ready for me. If I had parties I would buy the disposable plates, spoons etc available at the supermarket for my convenience. I have also grown up in a city in India with no experience of the outdoor life or nature. So shopping for functional things was natural. No thought, only convenient consumption. So needless to say this HABIT was a difficult one to BREAK. But when the realization came I knew I had to do it. Sometime back while doing a course on REIKI, I had learnt that if you repeatedly do a particular thing for 21 days then it becomes a habit. I decided to apply it. There are plenty of replacements for all these plastic items. In fact, these replacements existed well before plastic came along. My reusable water bottle replaced my need for buying plastic water bottles. I have cloth bags that now replace the plastic bags when I shop. And snacks are now carried from home before stepping out, in a steel box or a cloth bag. The solutions were already there. What I needed was a way to remember these solutions. Getting into a new habit of remembering, was the bridge I needed to cross. The way I overcome it was by planning in advance. With no habit of prior planning, I went to weekly planning. Whatever was needed to be done in the week was listed down and then I had to find ways to do it without creating any waste out of it. This continued for few weeks until it turned into a habit which I was immensely happy about and gives me great satisfaction. The lesson I learnt during this process was going ‘plastic free’ or ‘zero waste’ is a lifestyle change that will take time. It’s a journey. Take it day-by-day and be proud of the little things you do, as this will help build your confidence for the bigger steps. You don’t need to go out and buy all the zero waste products! Look around your home first, see what things you can upcycle and creatively use what you already have. HAPPY UPCYCLING! -Anupama Gokhale
More Posts
Share by: