Did I catch your attention? Yay~
I challenged myself two months ago to reduce the amount of plastic I was using. There are a few reasons why I decided to that.
First its because I really like my government now and I appreciate how everyone within the cabinet is doing their best they could to save my country in spite of their limitations. I really want to save my country too but I am aware that I do not have enough money or power to make extreme changes for my country but I wanted to do something to at least help.
I know what I am doing is like a tiny drop in the ocean but I remember I voted against the odds with everyone else and we made a huge impact on what we have today. A change. And I am very thankful that I did it.
Okay back to plastic. So, my government decided to start a movement by first banning smoking in eateries and then after that another movement to discourage the use of single used plastic by imposing a 20 sen charge on plastics.
In a way I am happy with the way things are going but it didn't bother me much until I heard about the 20 sen charge. I did the rough math and I figured if I only take one plastic bag a day, in a year I would have to spend up to RM50 a year.
I could have bought myself a nice meal with that money so that motivated me a lot. Hahah because reason no. 2, I am cheap and I count my money all the time hoping they'd multiply but sadly they don't. :(
I started small. I just took one recycle bag with me every time I go out to buy my lunch. At the beginning it was very difficult to say no to plastic bags because, I don't know why but its just nice to get something for free I guess? But I wanted to try, so at the beginning 5 out of 10 times I would say "Yes please." even when I had a recycle bag with me.
Soon I start to realise that the plastic bag that I take, I actually throw it away when I finish my lunch. In actually fact, I didn't need it because if I needed it I would keep it. I only took it because I wanted it.
I hit an epiphany and I decided to say no with the remaining 5 out of 10 times that I am offered a plastic bag.
Much later I discovered that in spite of some packed food using paper containers, they still use plastic covers when you take away. I wanted to commit to this plastic thing, so I brought my own reusable container.
I challenged myself two months ago to reduce the amount of plastic I was using. There are a few reasons why I decided to that.
First its because I really like my government now and I appreciate how everyone within the cabinet is doing their best they could to save my country in spite of their limitations. I really want to save my country too but I am aware that I do not have enough money or power to make extreme changes for my country but I wanted to do something to at least help.
I know what I am doing is like a tiny drop in the ocean but I remember I voted against the odds with everyone else and we made a huge impact on what we have today. A change. And I am very thankful that I did it.
Okay back to plastic. So, my government decided to start a movement by first banning smoking in eateries and then after that another movement to discourage the use of single used plastic by imposing a 20 sen charge on plastics.
In a way I am happy with the way things are going but it didn't bother me much until I heard about the 20 sen charge. I did the rough math and I figured if I only take one plastic bag a day, in a year I would have to spend up to RM50 a year.
I could have bought myself a nice meal with that money so that motivated me a lot. Hahah because reason no. 2, I am cheap and I count my money all the time hoping they'd multiply but sadly they don't. :(
I started small. I just took one recycle bag with me every time I go out to buy my lunch. At the beginning it was very difficult to say no to plastic bags because, I don't know why but its just nice to get something for free I guess? But I wanted to try, so at the beginning 5 out of 10 times I would say "Yes please." even when I had a recycle bag with me.
Soon I start to realise that the plastic bag that I take, I actually throw it away when I finish my lunch. In actually fact, I didn't need it because if I needed it I would keep it. I only took it because I wanted it.
I hit an epiphany and I decided to say no with the remaining 5 out of 10 times that I am offered a plastic bag.
Much later I discovered that in spite of some packed food using paper containers, they still use plastic covers when you take away. I wanted to commit to this plastic thing, so I brought my own reusable container.
You would think that if you bring your own containers to pack food, maybe just maybe, they would give you a 20 sen discount. But no, you pay the full price regardless.... (Ahem, MESTECC maybe you might want to look into it next year? :P)
That is fine, I wanted to commit to this and try to make it into a lifestyle. Its true, washing up your container after eating might take up some of your time during lunch and bringing around a container and a recycle bag might not be the most fashionable thing you can do.
Not everyone is on board with this plastic thing. Just last week, I took the same container to a bazaar. You know, those bazaar whereby there are a lot of street food during lunchtime near a mosque. I got a really weird look from a lady when I told her I wanted her to put the nasi dagang in my container. I think she thought I was really weird with my recycle bag and a container. She wanted to put my container in a plastic bag in case my container spills and when I told her there's no need, she gave me more weird looks. Hahahha I have to say I enjoy the attention I am getting from this lifestyle.
So what did I learn from this?
- I learned that you can change your lifestyle if you want to. You don't have to need to, you can want to and still be able to do it.
- You choice might not always be favourable to everyone but as long as you know what you are doing and the impact that you are making in the long run, its okay to get weird looks sometimes.
- Learning to say 'No' may be a bit inconvenient at first but you will get around it and you will find ways to work around the inconvenience.
- It's not possible to perfect immediately. Therefore, its okay if you mess up a little bit at the beginning. Take some time to understand the problem then improvise as you go along.
- Lastly, the best way to teach someone is to show them because monkey see, monkey do. Hahahha not saying you are a monkey but you get the gist of it. Right?
Hang in there, lets save the country 20 sen at a time! Hahahaha!
Love,
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