First, I wanted to congratulate those who are graduating this month! You did it! Do not forget to check out my previous (Attention Soon-to-be-Alumni) post regarding the different services that you can still use as USG alumni.

Second, to those who finished their first year at USG, you did it! You are halfway through your program. Can you believe it that spring semester already ended? Although spring semester had ended for me, summer break is not yet within my grasp because I am taking two summer courses in the span of a month. Yikes! Fortunately, I have two class-free weeks. Yay! As a former member of UMBC’s Peer Advisory Team (PAT), I learned the significance of taking the time to reflect (i.e. life in general, self-development, career-path etc.)

Reflection in Life
Since the semester ended and I finished up my projects/papers, I had some time to think about my lifestyle. Due to my vegan soon-to-be brothers and experience living in a one bedroom condominium with four other people (it was crowded and cluttered), I found myself thinking about how I live my life. I have always cared about animals and the environment, but I never thought about how to be more conscious of how I affects my environment. I also wanted to learn to live with the necessities in life to avoid having a cluttered home. I have been watching YouTube videos on minimalism and trash-free lifestyles, which inspired me to start my journey in minimizing the trash that I produce and de-clutter my home. It has been a struggle since I tend to collect lots of stuff. However, since I started this journey, I learned to let go of tons of my stuff. The questions that I always ask are: Do I love this item? Will it bring meaning or happiness into my life?  

Minimalism
For those who would like to learn more about minimalism, I would recommend watching Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, which is a documentary on the minimalism life style.

Benefits: Less clutter in your home, control over your shopping habits (more money saved)

Zero Waste Lifestyle
For those interested in learning more about zero-waste lifestyle, I would recommend to watch 10 Ways to Reduce Waste, which is a YouTube video that provides ways you can reduce trash in your daily life. I like this particular video because the YouTuber also talked about Ecosia, which is a search engine that you can use. For every 45 searches, Ecosia will plan a tree!

Benefit: Conscious about your food purchases (you’re more likely to purchase foods that are not packaged; therefore, less junk food consumptions),

Tips
Since I started this journey, I felt like I am living a better life. I am helping reduce trash in my own way and have control over my spending habits. Below, I compiled some tips for those who are interested in reducing trash in your daily life.

Switching to package-free products, such as shampoo bar  (I LOVE Lush beauty products because they are package-free and the ingredients are all natural)
Buying package-free produce and using reusable produce bags
Using reusable grocery bags when you go shopping & wrapping presents in cloth
Using biodegradable products (i.e. toothbrush, bees wax wraps to replace plastic wraps, trash bags)
Making handmade/homemade products that you use everyday (i.e toothbrush, cleaning products, sunscreen, soap)

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and helped you consider living a minimalistic and zero (minimal) trash lifestyle.