Kinshuk:
Hello and welcome to another episode of green shoots the sustainability podcast. We demystify sustainability, one topic at a time.
One thing I have realized about myself, is that the day I'm listening to the success story or cheat codes directly from leaders in the field, I'm extra motivated on those days. I'm assuming that applies to you, too. Today, we have one such amazing person joining us, who will tell us about sustainable living. One striking thing about her, she loves to lead by example. She has this genuine belief in the goodness of people. And she thinks that if she can demonstrate the right way to treat our planet, others will follow suit. So without further delay, let's meet Soumya. Soumya is a sustainable lifestyle advocate and practitioner from Hyderabad. Her Instagram handle is greenfeetclean feet, it's really popular. And you can learn so much about sustainable living, if you spend even five minutes on her page daily. I have been, so I know.
Hey, Soumya, we're delighted to have you here on Green Shoots. Thanks a lot for making time. First of all, tell us what triggered this journey to sustainable living.
Soumya:
As such, I don't think there was a trigger. But I think the seed of it was always there, you know, I was born and brought up in a middle class family. So reusing things like hand me down clothes. And, you know, basically, waste was something which was not waste until you wasted it. That was the whole concept. So those things were always there while we were growing up. But then yeah, when you finish your education, and you entered into the corporate world, you're like, you know, convenience takes over and you're just randomly buying stuff over indulging over shopping. And also because of the pressure of a corporate job, I think you tend to over indulge, spend on things more, it's kind of like a compensation that you're making, probably. So then when I realized that, okay, this is not how it should go.
And also, I was pregnant with my daughter, and I was actually looking at, you know, just generally chemical free, kind of baby care stuff on what is the best I can do? And that's when I realized how diapers are made. And I realized what kinds of things go into baby care products. And I was like, No, this is not okay with me. And I started researching for cloth diapers, I started researching if there were cleaners or body care products for babies, which were less toxic, or, and so I started going back to those grandma's recipes and all those kinds of things started. And slowly. Also, as the city was growing, we started to observe that a lot of empty lands where trash was just being dumped. And after that, I actually did see a landfill as well.
And slowly, things just added up. And I realized that okay, this is a huge problem. I think we always knew plastic was an issue. But you were starting to see the problems. You were starting to see the lakes in Hyderabad were completely filled with plastic and all sorts of things. And, you know, even diapers and sanitary products just lying out in the open and animals going and digging into them. It was very disturbing. I think it was always there. But maybe the awareness came to me much more when I had my daughter and you know, parenthood probably pushed me to see those things and actually react to it as well. So yeah, in many ways, I would say that thought was always there about sustainability, choosing well, using less, and with my daughter, it started expanding into newer areas, I feel Yeah, so that's how it went.
Kinshuk:
Understood. And that is a story I have heard from many. However, some people walk away from it, and you chose to persist. Most people also don't see the link between things. Like when water overflows in our cities, after few hours of rain. People don't directly correlate that to oh, this is because our drains are encroached by construction or blocked by plastic garbage. Why do you think they are not able to see this link?
Soumya:
So I think any point it only strikes you when you have a personal connection to it, you know, any change in your life has to come from a selfish agenda from how is this affecting me personally, and how I do not want to be a part of this problem. So for me, I think as a parent, I definitely was not understanding how 20 years down the line how is going to be for my daughter, you know, just things- clean things like you know, breathable air and drinkable water is going to become so difficult. And of course, somehow people living in the city, they are better off and they are able to afford, you know, maybe this really water, better services. But then what about all those children who are like, probably living on the side of the street? What about them. So that starts from a personal point of view, but then that empathy as a parent, you try to understand how other people might be feeling. And I think any change at the end of the day has to come from your personal experience. And that is the change, which actually sticks on I feel, with most people, maybe there are some people, like who are generally empathetic towards the entire world. But for most people, it has to be that personal connection, something has affected them personally in that how they change in their life.
Kinshuk:
You spoke a lot about how motherhood triggered Sustainable Thinking in you, and you became more empathetic about the planet? What is the source of this?
Soumya:
Yeah, definitely, as you said, the nurturing angle is always there. And somehow, I guess we connect to the larger you know, nature, as nature is also considered Mother, Mother Nature.
Kinshuk:
Tell us you're doing so much in a day? How are you fitting all of it?
Soumya:
I'm not sacrificing anything, I just feel that once you know what you know, you have to do it either ways, you're going to do it. And we can't give the excuse of not finding time. And all these things which you were talking about, like composting and growing your own food or trying to do these things. Yes, they do take time, but you don't do everything at once I did not start by doing everything at once it took me a good four or five years to pick up one step at a time. And then you do need a little bit of planning. So when I have to go grocery shopping, I have to go to a store where they sell everything plastic free. So sometimes I might not be able to find everything in one store, I have to go two to three places. But then I think the convenience also comes in right? we are so used to just - you don't have something at home, go to the supermarket and get it. But that's not how it is. Now I make a monthly plan, It actually reduces my time because monthly I have this list that I have to go here and buy. And I'm done. Like every week, I'm not sitting down and making another list every day, whenever I get an idea just going in buying, it's not like that. So I plan for months, or sometimes groceries, I plan for three months. So I only have to go once in three months, finish that job and come back. So in a lot of ways it's saving my time as well. And when you come to composting or bio enzymes, these are things which initially might feel like too complicated. But right now I spend just like two minutes a day on it. And sometimes not even that. You don't have to check on them every single day as well. So time is there, and you can find time, they don't take more time. And when you add everything together, it takes less time to live this lifestyle because you know, browsing unnecessarily browsing, you know, shopping websites, you're not wasting your time with buying clothes, you're not going window shopping, there is time definitely there is time to do all these.
Kinshuk:
You should tell us how have these decisions impacted your family? Did they feel that they were making a sacrifice? How did you communicate to them what you were planning to do?
Soumya:
Yeah, so again, as I said, it was one step at a time. So what I was doing for my daughter to make sure, you know, we use chemical free products or cloth diapers, it was all like I was doing it one by one slowly, when I had time, I made one switch at a time. So it didn't really affect everybody in the family. But yeah, once people understood what I am doing and why I'm doing even if there was not 100% Help, there was no resistance, there was definitely no resistance and then slowly as it kept going. Slowly, they also come around, they see that you are doing so much effort. So they also decide to carry water bottle from home or when we go out to get a take away then my husband will take containers and go get a takeaway in that. So slowly these things definitely took time. I didn't force anybody. I did my thing. And slowly people came around and they did whatever they could do again, they didn't have to do everything I was doing whatever they could do they were comfortable with. They did that. So yeah, there wasn't any resistance. It was not very difficult. Because I took all those steps First, myself first and then they came around accepting all of those.
Kinshuk:
So how has your mindful living impacted your daughter? Do you proactively teach her the fundamentals of sustainable living? How does that work?
Soumya:
So I feel children because I said I started this when my daughter was born right so from the time she's been growing up, she didn't think it was something different.
Whatever I did, she thought it was normal. So we will be very frugal about the kinds of toys we bring, or we had a lot of hand me downs as well. And some of the things which we bought for her, we handed down to other children in our family, whether it was clothes, they all kept coming with their workloads from her cousin's toys from her cousins who do a lot of hand me downs. And she didn't really feel like this is something different we're doing from other family, she thought it was normal. Of course, now she's in a stage where she sees other children. And like, she sees that, okay, they just want to buy something, they will go out and buy, they don't really think that much. But since growing up with that kind of a frugal mindset, she actually told herself, okay, if I really need this, I just wait it out for 10 days. And then if I really like it, I'll go buy it. But definitely Children are children. So sometimes I do have to step in and say, Okay, think about it. I know you asked for this, think about it, if you definitely need it, we'll get this for a festival, we'll get this for your birthday, whichever is the closest thing. And then by the time that festival or whatever comes, within a few weeks, she's like, I don't think I need it. It was just interesting at that point of time, I don't think I need it. It's quite wasteful, so I don't want it. And then yes, even books and even clothes, she has some of some clothes, which are thrifted books we exchanged between friends, we do book swaps and things like that. And then recently, we needed a cycle and one of her friends had overgrown her cycle, and we just bought Rome and she will have any issues, I told her you can decorate it the way you want, you can just jazz it up the way you want. So she was pretty happy, she didn't have like, oh, it's not a new cycle, she didn't have those issues. So I think more credit goes to her. I didn't have to sit down and tell her anything she just observed and picked it up. And I think that's how children learn the best. They just observe and pick it up. And that's what sticks. You can't be telling your children do this, do this, do this, and you are not doing any of that doesn't work at all. So the best learning happens through you know, observation is what I feel.
Kinshuk:
wow, what a wise child.
You have done so many sustainable swaps in your life, which ones were the most difficult for you and which ones are so easy that anyone can pick them up?
Soumya: For me, I would say I completely enjoyed DIY, buying all the you know, personal care product and making my own cleaners and all those things I really enjoyed. So it didn't feel very difficult. Because it was really in my control, I could do it, I didn't have to depend on somebody else. Like if you want to go plastic free grocery shopping, that's not in your control, you need to find a place where this is happening, there should be a place close to you. So those are things which are not in our control. And that is difficult.
And similarly, clothes. It's not very easy to find sustainable brands, there's so many fast fashion brands and other things which are easily available cheaper. So those are some transitions, which were difficult for me, because it was out of my hands. Somebody has to provide me the service, somebody has to provide me a sustainable option for me to take it up. Right. So those were difficult, where I had to depend on external factors.
But some of the ones which other people found very difficult, like maybe, you know, cloth diapers and reusable menstrual products. That came really easy to me, because I just did my research. I spoke to people, I found out all about it. And I just jumped right in before I could get any second thoughts. So yeah, and now I think there are so many options, so many sustainable brands earlier when I wanted to use bamboo toothbrushes, only one brand used to sell it. And it used to come through Amazon, so I had to buy a stock for one year, and keep it but now it's much more easier. You actually see bamboo toothbrushes in some supermarkets as well. So yeah, and apart from that more than swaps, I would say the mindset to own less stuff that needs to come in, if that comes in with two people and they realize that they want to buy less to save the environment that will change a lot of things. And once that shift happens in your mind, you will know what are the swaps that you can do you will know what are the steps that you have to take. It has to sit in your head, that mindfulness that awareness has to come to you. And then you don't have to ask anybody for whatever easy swaps What is it difficult? No, it just come to you and you'll be on your sustainability journey.
Kinshuk:
Got it. So it's a way of life that people need to adopt. It's not just one thing in particular.
Soumya:
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Kinshuk:
All right. It's very interesting. We are very curious, what are the products that you don't even buy anymore? What are the substitutes you have developed that are completely DIY?
Soumya:
Okay, the thing which I absolutely don't buy are cleaners. So I make bio enzymes. And by now in so many years, I've figured out different bio enzymes, how do they work for different purposes. So whether it's a dish cleaner, laundry detergent, toilet cleaner, bathroom cleaners, glass cleaners, anything, all the cleaners in the house, including your shampoo, and you know, body cleansers, and making making them at home. So those are the things which I absolutely don't buy. Once in a while, I might just want to try out a brand or like a shampoo bar or something like that. But most of these are making it at home. So I absolutely don't buy cleaners, and a lot of garden stuff. Also I don't need to buy because of course my compost is coming like I'm making it at home, then these most of the insecticides and fertilizers are also easily you can make them at home with all your kitchen ingredients. So yeah, those are some things I absolutely don't buy, and definitely don't buy fast fashion. So yeah, there's some things I don't buy.
Kinshuk: Hey, wait a second, that means you only buy food.
Soumya:
No, no, there are other things, other small things which we have to buy. But yeah, mostly, it would.
Kinshuk:
So tell me, I also have made by enzyme after learning from my friend Sonika Bhasin. It is still in the making process, like I think another 30 days and it will be done. So can it function as a toilet cleaner as well? Is it effective?
Soumya: Yes, it can. So you buy an enzyme, once it's ready, it has two parts. One is the liquid part. And one is all the fermented peels which have, you know, partially disintegrated, what you do for bathroom cleaners. And for tougher stains, what you do is you take that pulp bit, grind it up completely. And you use that along with a little bit of soap nut, you might need a little bit of soap nut or something, some kind of early tower soap nut kind of thing. And you use that and that's good. That's going to work amazing for your bathroom cleaners or for more tougher stains. So yeah.
Kinshuk:
Wow, how do you make shampoos?
Soumya:
I have a recipe for the shampoo as well. So yeah, you'll find it on my page and that's one of my most liked post or I could say that and everybody comes back and says that shampoo really worked very well. So yeah, that's my recipe is there. So it's like a soap nut and a little bit of reetha and shikakai, it worked great for me.
Kinshuk:
I think I met you too late. I can't use shampoos anymore. But we will share the link of your recipe so that others can make thanks a lot for that. Coming to out of house. tell us what rules you would like to see implemented in the country. Like what bothers you to an annoying level? Like why the hell can't we do it kind of emotion. Tell us a little bit about that.
Soumya: I think Littering is one of the biggest problems. Plastic Littering is one of the biggest problems and I don't know how people can just dump things on the side of the road. Especially when I go to these really Pahadi places or beaches and all it is horrible to see diapers and everything floating up to the beach and plastic everywhere. I mean, how difficult is it to put it in the dustbin? I mean there will be a dustbin. I'm not saying that dust bins are readily available within few feet of you but definitely within 10-15 meters there are dust bins and I see those. How difficult is it to pick that up and put it in the dustbin? What happens to it after it goes into the bin - That is another story. But at least pick it up and put it in the dustbin and if there is no dustbin, especially if it's a plastic wrapper or a plastic water bottle and you've eaten from it, you can just put it back in your bag and take it home it's like absolutely not going to weigh down your stuff like plastic is lightweight. Just take it back home – till you find a dustbin just carry it in your bag till then. I don't know why it's so difficult for people to do such a simple thing. We don't throw stuff randomly in our house. We put it in dustbin so just do the same thing and you're outside and that is something I don't understand how. I mean, forget about fines, forget about who's watching you. That thing - it should come from within that I'm not going to throw it in such a beautiful place. I've come here I'm a tourist. I love this place. I wouldn't want to see that plastic packet when I come back next time. So why would I throw it there? That little bit of understanding if people get I think it'll make a huge difference.
Kinshuk:
So everyone you heard what makes Soumya really upset, please don't litter. And this is something that we have heard from many experts like some people have gone so far as to say if you want to do one thing for your country, please don't litter please segregate your waste. That is like basic.
Soumya:
There's actually been a couple of instances where people have just thrown something and I went and picked it up right in front of them, put it in a bag and walk through it. So I don't know, I hope at least those people get to realize.
Kinshuk:
I'm sure. I hope. You buy things and you avoid plastic - where all do you shop? Can you tell people about these places in Hyderabad, from which you shop zero waste or plastic free or sustainably?
Soumya:
Yeah, so in Hyderabad, there are about two or three stores which sell groceries package free, which promote themselves as a zero waste store, and they do this. But in the older parts of the city, there are a lot of Kirana stores or groceries, which just sell in bulk. So I think even if a zero a store is not accessible to you, even if you can go to some of the older parts of the city, you will find everything you know, package free, they are not promoting a zero waste lifestyle or anything like that. But you go walk in with your boxes and you fill everything they don't mind, they're just going to wait for you, check the weight, and then you pay by weight. That's it. So once in three months, again, as I said, it takes me a little bit of planning that I have to make a list. And once in three months I go and I buy. So yeah, just walk in with your cloth bags, whatever it is fill them up and come back. It's less convenient. But a little bit of effort I think we can all make for the planet. Yeah, so apart from that there are also a few supermarkets like this one, which I have recently been to called Vijetha. And they have these huge drums, with rice and dal and everything. Their idea is that how much ever the consumer wants, they have a plastic bag next to them. And they can fill up in the plastic bag and take it but you don't have to follow that you can walk in with your cloth bag or whatever your if you already have some plastic bags at home, bring them and you can fill it up and they don't mind. They don't care. They're like, Okay, you take it in whatever you want, you're paying for this stuff. So there are a few stores who are doing that. And most as I already said, in a wholesale market and older parts of the city, it's very easy to find plastic free groceries.
Kinshuk:
Got it, Vijetha is one store that I'm aware of from my retailing days. Tell us if you had to give one advice to parents on how to help your kids to be more sustainable, what would that be?
Soumya:
I think once the parents themselves have taken up this kind of a lifestyle, it's very easy for the kid to mimic whatever they're doing. So you don't have to sit down your kid and you know, explain that avoid unnecessary purchases or things like that. It's like once the parent adopts that it automatically translates to the kid. But then yes, there is always peer pressure. There are other parents who are not doing what you're doing. And the kids do get influenced, it's very normal, even I would probably get influenced if I see the same thing again and again. So kids do get influenced. But when that happens, I just sit down and I speak to my daughter is like see if you want it, you can get it. I mean, I'm not going to be so restrictive saying that, okay, this is plastic, you just cannot buy it at all, I do give her the option to make her own choice. So even if it's plastic, there are some things which we buy, whether it's plastic toys, or whether it's some clothes, which she likes from fast fashion brand. I let it go once in a while. And she also realizes, especially when it comes to clothes, and fast fashion brand, she also realizes that those clothes die out really fast. So within three four wears, she can't wear it anymore. She realizes that so I have let her make those choices. And she's understood why they're not good choices, because of her own awareness as well. And yeah, that's how it is. I don't say you can't just buy junk food at all. I'm not so restrictive. But she sees that I don't buy too much junk food myself. So she knows like once in a week, she goes and says I want this, then okay, fine. It is allowed as long as you're not doing it every day. Even if I take her to a supermarket, she doesn't make those choices. So I'm happy that she has that understanding. And that's good for now. Slowly she will have more awareness. What are the bigger problems she will understand that and probably I can only hope that she makes better choices. I can’t walk her path. I can only provide her information. She only sees and learn from us. So yeah.
Kinshuk:Understood, and you've given her a great example through your own life, right? That will always be her compass in a way. Tell us how would you want people to approach sustainable living a plastic free living?
Soumya: I think anybody who's starting this off the first time, I would really suggest that they do a waste audit, especially to understand how much of waste they are creating, you need to understand when you want to reduce the waste that you're producing, you first need to understand where you stand, how much is the waste that you are creating, right? So an audit is something which I would definitely suggest - do a small one month audit or even for two weeks, just collect all the dry waste that you create. wet waste, obviously, you can't be collecting it, but collect all the dry waste. And sit down at the end of the month and see what are you buying the most of? And is it coming in plastic? And is there an alternative. And that's how you will be able to make the right changes because I can sit down here and say - avoid this plastic, that plastic but it all depends on your lifestyle and how much you can avoid in the first place. So audit is one of the best ways to realize the kind of waste that you're creating and how to cut down. I think once you know the problem, that is when you will start finding the solution. So definitely suggested we started as the first step.
Kinshuk: That's a very valid and strong point. When I did my waste audit, I realized that more than half of my waste was wet waste. That's why I started composting, as wet waste messes up with you know the rest of the waste as well. So better clean it out at home itself It also starts stinking later. So anyone dealing with your waste will find it very unhygienic - that was an interesting perspective from my friend Rahul Khera, the founder of Balancing Bits.
Kinshuk: So what is your vision for the future? Five years, 10 years down the line? What do you think you would be doing?
Soumya: I don't plan for so far, that is the biggest problem I have in my life. But I do hope that I am moving towards more education-like speaking to schools, speaking to children, speaking to institutions about you know, waste management, that is the direction I want to take, like create more awareness, maybe use some small courses which kids can take or, you know, go to schools, talk to them, put them you know, in contact with waste management companies, how they can reduce their waste, how maybe think about giving them sustainable alternative options for stationery, you know, more like recycled papers. And yeah, I'm thinking on those lines for now. But yeah, we don't know, let's see.
Soumya:
got it, you want to do more in the space through education, all the best for that. And when you start, we will have you once again here talking about that part of your story. It has been an amazing conversation. And I was amazed by how you have led by example, in all situations, even in the case, when you saw someone litter, you picked it up so that they learn. It's an amazing way to think and feel. Thanks a lot for sharing your story. And we hope that it inspires us all to do more.
Tell us if there was one thing you had to tell people to shake them up and swing them into action? What would that be?
Soumya:
Yeah, firstly, thank you so much for having me, it was wonderful talking to you. I think one thing which I really I think would make a difference is composting. And I also think that should be like a policy as well, like, maybe not on an individual level, the government can't enforce that. But apartments and communities or institutions, it should be compulsory for everybody to be doing in house composting, because I don't understand the reason why our waste which can just break down in soil or break down in our house should be sent somewhere to these large composting facilities to be you know, handled composting is very simple. It's not like you have to recycle plastic, glass and all those things definitely have to be handled on an industrial scale. But wet waste, I don't know why we should be sending it out. And I think wet waste if you're all able to handle in house, it will make a huge difference. Because wet waste is something which needs to go out of our house every single day, the plastic glass and all those things they can be kept. And once in a week the truck can come and pick it up. But that waste is something every day a truck has to come every day. There's so many miles of movement that are happening in the city just to pick up wet waste. I think that's a lot of carbon footprint. And I think one thing if people should do is to compost.
Kinshuk:You know, I started composting out of curiosity, and I realized that it's a very rewarding experience. And at times, you know, I have dropped seeds into them and then later they have germinated because the soil is really fertile. So anything grows and then you see water droplets collect on the other side and it's like, oh, everything is going nice and well here. It's a very rich experience and to anyone who's listening, give it a shot. It's not that difficult. It doesn't take a lot of time at all.
Soumya:
Yeah, and hardly takes time and you're basically letting nature do its course. It's not like we are doing something or we have to do something. So yeah.
Kinshuk: True, Soumya, thanks a lot for being here. It has been an enriching discussion. We learnt so much today. Thank you so much for being here. And to our listeners, do check out the DIY shampoo recipe that we are going to put on the link. Also try out composting and like Soumya insisted, let's not litter. Let's segregate our waste. That is one thing that we must do for our country. If you have any suggestions feedback, do mail us at greenshootsearth@gmail.com. Have a great day and we will see you soon.
image by Markus Spic from Unsplash
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