Ways to be More Environment Conscious

I love the environment, clearly. I think, to some extent most of us do. I've been extremely conscious of my habits and how I can reduce my carbon footprint. It's definitely not easy (weirdly enough, in a country like Maldives) to do so considering how much plastic is around. Here are small ways I try some zero waste ideas to replace the plastic. 

Metal Straws

Ofcourse, like the slightly vsco girl I am, I almost always carry my metal straws (except on days when I'm wearing my circle bag where it won't fit, ugh) and I had to buy two sizes cos I tend to order thick drinks like smoothies and milkshakes a lot! These are great. I keep them in a small chopsticks bag (I will need to make a bag to put them tho) and after use I would roll them in some tissue paper, come home and clean them! It does take that bit of extra effort (and also trying to not forget them behind at cafe's. I'm glad a lot of cafe's have changed to paper/metal/glass straws so it does help a lot!

Reusable Make-up wiping cloth

These are the best purchase I've made this year. They were very inexpensive and I got a 20 pack with a laundry bag from Ali Express. I was skeptical of this at first but after using them a couple times and washing them (and they came out pretty great!) I'm sold. As someone who loves make-up and uses them all the time I have to constantly keep removing and reapplying them so these are fantastic. I used to use so many cotton rounds and the make-up remover tissues but no more! 

Reusable Water Bottle

Yes, this is a plastic bottle but I didn't want to get a glass one because it's a bit heavy and impractical for me but considering that I use my plastic water bottles forever, I'm hoping it's a good idea. Plus, this is such a small size, it fits into all my bags so that is fantastic. A lot of places I spend my time in have single use plastic bottles only so I've been not drinking water a lot which is really bad so I'm glad I have this now so I can refill it with tap water! (tap is great, okay!)

Bamboo Toothbrush

I really enjoy these ones from Zero Waste Maldives. They're super cute with the Maldivian map and I won't have to replace them as often, plus they're biodegradable so it's all really great. Plus, the bristles are so soft. 

Convenient Bags

These shopping bags are the best. My friend Amina gave the tan coloured one which I use all the time. It's a really big size and very sturdy so I've been using it when shopping a lot. I also have a bunch of tote bags that I use to carry things. I'm very proud to say I've vastly reduced the amount of plastic bags I use/take! 

Soap

These are from Ogaa by Artistree. They're handmade in Maldives by a lovely family and I chose this soap just because it was pink (yeah I like cute things obviously) and it smells so great. I love the packaging! I'm hoping to change my shampoo and conditioner to bars as well and remove all most plastic packaging from my bathroom. 

Thrifting

I've always loved hand me downs and about 70% of my wardrobe is thrifted clothing from neighbors and cousins. I'm so glad second hand culture is starting here in Maldives. I started a page back in April and try to post clothing for cheap because as much as I love fast fashion, they're very wasteful, so it's a way to reduce the overall fashion waste and still be trendy and cute!

Ecosia
Ever since I've heard of Ecosia, I've been using it. They're pretty transparent about the resources and where the trees are being planted. I only ever use google maybe once or so every now and then when I am trying to find a PPT, or else even at my work and home, I use Ecosia. It's a very easy and nice search engine that plants one tree for every 45 searches. 

I even bought a menstrual cup to make my periods zero waste but I've been to scared to try it yet so we'll see how it goes ahaha. If you guys have any suggestions on how to reduce plastic use, let me know in the comments below.