Living with other people may sometimes feel like a challenge to incorporate low waste habits. But it doesn't need to be.
Here are some things you can do while living with other people:
Look for all the bags at home and make a grocery kit
What’s a grocery kit? All of the large carry bags you have at home (this could be plastic too), put
them all together. Now look for smaller bags that you can put produce in. Even if you find scrap sheets of cloth lying about in the house, these can be used for spinach, fenugreek and coriander. Greens go bad very fast, and wrapping them in a damp cloth increases their shelf life.
Remember to take this kit you made, every time groceries are bought.
Choose to do the groceries yourself
To ensure you don’t bring home any new plastic in the house, buy all the groceries yourself. Planning is key. Equip yourself with bags and containers so that you don’t resort to plastic packaging anywhere.
Make an eco brick
Don’t start one just for the sake of it. Understand what goes into an ecobrick - thin, non-recyclable plastic. Find a plastic drink bottle. Put in the plastic bottle anything that cannot be recycled. For example - the thin plastic lining that certain plastic bottles come wrapped in. I talk more about my eco brick in this post.
Start with your bathroom
Since this is the place you have the most control over, evaluate all the areas in which you can not only reduce plastic consumption, but consumption in general. Do you really need 3 face masks and 2 face moisturizers? Will coffee grounds do the job? A sustainable period routine involves either switching to a menstrual cup, or using cloth pads. Bhoomi Pads and Ecofemme pads are some brands that I own.
DIYs
DIYs are a great way to make products that would otherwise be bought in excess packaging. For example, I have leftover aluminium bottles. I am going to make jasmine water/rose water which can be used as toner, and gift it to friends. Get your hands on some soap nuts, make some reetha solution and see if you can substitute the floor cleaner at home with that. At the moment, I collect all my small soap bits and wait till I have enough. When I do, I melt them and make them into liquid handwash. One more product that I don’t need to buy anymore!