HouseHold Ahimsa

Every product you buy, consume and throw away takes a toll on the environment. Production drains natural resources and creates pollution, while waste is a burden on Earth. So what can you do to help?

Behavior	Result	Environment
Buying less	Less production	Less pollution
Mindful selection	Harmless production	Sustainability
Minimizing waste	Less thrash	Less contamination

This short post will share some suggestions and insights on how to apply such behaviors into your daily life and become a mostly harmless consumer.

Buying less

Possessional minimalism. Like described in this FAQ, you can leave luxury & vanity aside and buy only necessities.

Go non-carnivorous. Consuming meat takes a toll on animals and the environment (water, carbon, etc) – so you can go at least flexitarian. Some go further and become vegetarian / vegan.

Donate. Every time you buy something, give something away. It is good for your karma, and means that the recipient will buy one item less.

Limit electricity consumption. Shut electricity off when you are going to sleep or leaving home. There are wonderful socket/outlet products to help with that.

Mindful selection

Prefer ethical brands. Do your homework and don’t buy brands doing injustice to animals, humans or plants.

Prefer natural products. For example; vinegar is a well known natural hygiene product which can be preferred over chemicals.

Prefer recycling. You can pick recycled / recyclable products, supporting sustainability.

Support small businesses. Many local / small businesses do natural, ethical and sustainable production. They can only survive if they have enough customers.

Take care of yourself. As an earthling, you need to select products that are good for you. In general; sugar & gluten consumption and over-eating is not good for anyone.

Minimizing waste

Prefer less package. You could prefer natural soaps with soluble packaging over liquid soaps with plastic packaging.

Prefer reusability. If you like chopsticks, get reusable metal chopsticks instead of one-time wooden ones.

Transform waste. Packages of depleted products can often be transformed into containers, pots, etc.

Split recyclable waste. You can put glass, paper, plastic, etc materials into distinct trash bins and dump into the nearest recycle bin.

Bring your own bag. Go shopping with your own backpack, or to the coffee shop with your own bottle.

Advertisement