A single straw to a zero-waste lifestyle
- themovingashram
- Apr 22, 2017
- 2 min read
Image by Go Zero PH via Facebook
Yoga, a union of mind, body, and spirit, educates us to a value we are all familiar of – compassion. Compassion can be given to different beings and applied in many instances like uplifting the lives of unfavored people or helping in efforts to preserve the environment.
Before yoga, I am already quite familiar with compassion towards others but I admit that I was reluctant to show compassion even in mundane activities. Yoga, however, connected me closer to the earth and to its inhabitants. This connection and realization that everyone is interconnected is my motivation for sustainability.
As an individual, one of the most drastic ways to advocate sustainability is to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle. With today’s fast changing environment where human footprint in the form of wastes is growing faster than we could imagine, more responsibility to manage our waste before it is too late is needed.
A small initiative to save the environment such as using an alternative for plastic straws could motivate individuals to reduce their carbon footprint, and this is how I discovered a small social enterprise which started with a single straw.
It started as a Christmas gift-giving effort to encourage her family and friends to simply reduce plastic consumption and just a month after, an individual named Fides Gimenez founded her own social enterprise to motivate more individuals.
Go Zero aims to encourage awareness among Filipinos about environmental issues and provides an opportunity for them to adopt a zero-waste lifestyle in a simple step that could go a long way.
Fides said that unlike plastic straws, stainless straws or metal straws need not to be replaced as long as it is thoroughly cleaned and dried before storage.
A Go Zero straw comes with a cleaning brush and are placed in Tikog pouches from Leyte.
Fides said that each metal straw is one less plastic straw that can possibly end up in the ocean or pile up in a landfill, endangering the ecosystem.
“Adopting a zero-waste lifestyle can be a big challenge… It’s not easy, it takes [time] getting used to, but what matters is that we always take extra measures to bring ourselves closer to that goal,” Fides added.
Go Zero’s method is just one of the many ways that can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint. Let us take time to consider what initiative can we offer for a sustainable lifestyle especially today that we celebrate Earth Day.
Once you take a step towards zero-waste lifestyle, you show compassion to other beings. Remember that the cumulative effect of small things is large.
Happy Earth Day everyone!
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