Between Solutions and Resolutions

Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions this year?
And are you keeping them?
Struggling a bit?
No shame in that.
Apparently, most New Year’s Resolutions are abandoned midway through February.

The problem with these resolutions is, we don’t really change just because we need a new calendar. Nor because we feel bad about splurging a bit over the Holidays.

Real change takes time. Even if you feel you don’t have any, or there isn’t much left.
To expect to change overnight will only lead to frustration. And to feel you’re expected to change so suddenly may be daunting. So much so, it’ll lead to inaction.

So, when you have only just decided you want to live a bit more eco-conscious, terms like Zero-Waste and a Plastic-Free Lifestyle may have a paralysing effect.

There is no such thing as zero waste.
There is no such thing as a plastic-free lifestyle.

There ís the choice to produce zero waste in as many situations as you can.

There ís the choice to use as many plastic-free products as you can (including the packaging). Or to use as little plastic ones as possible, quitting on the single-use ones first.

We would not advocate immediately throwing out everything that is, or contains, plastic. Once you have something, use it for as long as it lasts. But when it needs replacement, consider your alternatives.

Start with the small things.

Every bamboo toothbrush you buy, saves a plastic one from ending up in landfill.
And after a while of happily brushing your teeth with bamboo, you may feel happy to try a plastic free packaged toothpaste or tooth tabs (which combine plastic free packaging with being free from added water, making them most efficient in transport) too. Or some plastic free floss.

Every bamboo washing up brush you buy, saves a plastic one from ending up in landfill.
And after a while of happily washing up with bamboo, you may feel happy to try a solid washing up bar or a bamboo pot brush too. Or a coconut Safix pad, which may sound exotic and weird at first, but will turn out to be your most loved tiny household help. (Well, it definitely is a favourite around here. I guess I shall be writing my Ode to the Safix Pad sometime soon – keep an eye on this space – but for now, you can check my tips for easy and waste-free oven cleaning, using a safix scrub pad.)

It is by starting small that we built self-trust and optimism. And that is what you need to keep up to your resolutions, live beyond them and proceed to make a real change, create a real solution.
You only have to start.