Taking care of yourself should always be on your priority list. No, it doesn’t make you selfish. Always remember that you cannot give what you do not have. So if you are weak and sick, you cannot take care of your family and others.
There are many ways that you can live a happy and healthy life. And these ways are too familiar for us not to know. Moreover, these steps are easy and straightforward once you have taken the first step. But sometimes, taking that one step is the biggest challenge of all. For example, eating vegetables and healthy food sounds simple right? But if you love your cheeseburger and fries, it’s definitely hard to turn your back against them and suddenly go vegan.
Let us further discuss taking care of the self by doing something that sounds new and kind of different. Have you heard of the zero-waste lifestyle? Living waste does not necessarily mean that you live without luxuries. A zero-waste lifestyle means that you are more aware and conscious of the conservation of resources. This concept actually requires a bit of getting accustomed to, but as long as you are committed to working towards a healthier lifestyle, then you will be able to achieve it. Here are a few tips on how to get zero waste.
- Avoid plastics.
Plastics have toxic chemicals that seep out of them. Exposures to these toxic chemicals are also linked, according to studies, to cancer, impaired immunity, and birth defects. Although plastics are actually useful in our everyday lives, such as a sandwich wrapper, it’s time to ditch those and look for alternative things to use. For packed food, you may opt to use reusable containers and Tupperware.
- 5Rs
Are you familiar with the 5Rs in waste management? Reuse, reduce, recycle, repair, and recover.
Reuse- don’t just throw things away if you can still use them. For example, an overused toothbrush can even be used as a brush to clean your shoes. To walk towards the zero waste razor that is used once can be reused to at least 2-4 times.
Reduce- lessen the amount of trash.
Recycle- an old box can be recycled and used as a bookshelf or toy cabinet. Recycling old stuff can lessen trash significantly and can help us have a cleaner environment.
Repair- instead of throwing out things that are broken, and adding them to the pile of trash towards the landfill, try having them repaired first. Sometimes, broken things need patience and a pair of skillful hands to work again.
Recover- this may be a little out of our league as this requires machinery. Recover means recovering energy from the trash itself.
These suggestions are not impossible to do. With a single step and sheer determination to lessen the waste, you will surely achieve a zero-waste lifestyle. You are not expected to do this overnight. But you are expected to take small steps forward.