Last month in December, my parents had closed down their office and had to pack everything in it. Mama brought back some furnitures for my room and threw all of our broken and scratched furnitures away. I finally had a room makeover. Needless to say, a lot of time in December was spent decluttering; from the things in the office, to the things in my room, to the things at home too.
It got to the point where my room was ‘perfect’, in the sense that I only had what I needed, was currently using or at least somewhat attached to. But I still itched to let go of more. I kept on taking my things out, and asking myself again and again if i needed it. It drove me slightly crazy, too.
I then had to remind myself again that minimalism is a tool, not a destination. What was I trying to achieve with minimalism? Was it merely getting rid of things and being left with nothing? Cos that would bring a lot of emptiness, both physically and spiritually.
And I reminded myself of the minimalism beyond the things. I want to read more. Create more. Understand more. Be excited for more. More non-materialistic things. A life beyond just things.
This is something I've been meaning to do for soooo long. I've watched plenty of videos on the Zero Waste Movement, I watched the True Cost Documentary, yet I've made very little changes to my life still :( The thing about being more conscious about the environment is that you'll need to spend some money initially, but once you fork out the large amount, you don't have to spend anymore. Despite the insignificant progress that I've made, I still want to document it to hold myself accountable:
1. I carry my own reusable bag
I got a foldable reusable bag from Daiso for RM5 which I carry in my bag all the time. So whenever I purchase something that doesn't fit in my regular bag - I'll unfold my reusable bag and use that. Besides that, my family have also bought reusable bags and trolleys and we take them with us whenever we go grocery shopping. Pretty basic.
2. I've swapped from regular wax to organic wax
My dad is Punjabi. Nuff said. Since I was about 16, I used Veet Wax Strips, plastic strips with wax on it that you have to heat up before using. One box would last me 1-1.5 usage. Lol. The plastics are disposable a.k.a it goes straight to the landfills!
A year ago, I was introduced to Norah Organic Wax. It's honey wax in a glass jar, and you use sticks to scoop it up. It also comes with a packet of washable cloths. And oh.my.god it's literally the best. One jar costs only RM35, which is similar to Veet, except that it lasts me for soooo many usages. (probably about 6 usages?) It's simple, organic, easy to use, and a lot kinder to mother earth! It's a Malaysian brand, but I'm sure you can find something similar in your respective countries.
3. I started using washable panty liners
1. I carry my own reusable bag
I got a foldable reusable bag from Daiso for RM5 which I carry in my bag all the time. So whenever I purchase something that doesn't fit in my regular bag - I'll unfold my reusable bag and use that. Besides that, my family have also bought reusable bags and trolleys and we take them with us whenever we go grocery shopping. Pretty basic.
Ok from now onwards, it gets pretty.. feminine, so warnings if you're a man.
2. I've swapped from regular wax to organic wax
My dad is Punjabi. Nuff said. Since I was about 16, I used Veet Wax Strips, plastic strips with wax on it that you have to heat up before using. One box would last me 1-1.5 usage. Lol. The plastics are disposable a.k.a it goes straight to the landfills!
A year ago, I was introduced to Norah Organic Wax. It's honey wax in a glass jar, and you use sticks to scoop it up. It also comes with a packet of washable cloths. And oh.my.god it's literally the best. One jar costs only RM35, which is similar to Veet, except that it lasts me for soooo many usages. (probably about 6 usages?) It's simple, organic, easy to use, and a lot kinder to mother earth! It's a Malaysian brand, but I'm sure you can find something similar in your respective countries.
3. I started using washable panty liners
A friend of mine started using washable cloth pads, and the idea was foreign to me for the longest time. She told me about the dangers and harms in regular pads. And.. I finally made the switch! But only with panty liners. The brand that I use is bamboolite and it's easy to use. Pretty straightforward, comes with an instruction. This seems like a simple switch, but just say I use 30 panty liners/month, which means that I'd use 360 pads/year. Lord knows how many in a lifetime. It's pretty incredible. Another friend of mine switched to Freedom Cups, but yikes, I just.. can't. This is good enough for me for now and I'm loving mine so far!
So those are the updates for my journeys. Baby steps.
Take care! Happy 2019!
Love,
Aisyah.
