How To Teach Our Kids About Sustainable Living (Tips & Hacks Included)

0:00 The minute I share anything about sustainability or a new product or something like that, you want to, you know, people want to suddenly buy that, right? Do not throw away everything that you have and then try to rebuild a sustainable lifestyle. Right? You have to eliminate that gradually, slowly. But that does not mean that you fill your Amazon cards right away and say, okay, everything in my house is going to be glass and everything in my, you know, I'm going to only buy this.

0:22 You have to complete that process of disowning and distancing what you have. Hey guys.

0:28 We are chatting with Saha from Bare Necessities and I've been following their journey for a really, really long time. I have, you know, if you're following me on my personal handle or on Kidstop Press, you know, we always talk about sustainable living. You would have possibly always caught me

0:47 with a glass bottle.

0:48 You would have possibly always caught me with, you know, my cup, which I always use in terms of carrying my tea, coffee around. These little changes, you'll perhaps if you've been invited to my daughter's birthday party, you wouldn't have seen distillery bottles if you attended KSP Awards.

1:05 Also, let me tell you, when we've

1:07 actually had over 400 people, we've still not had a single plastic bottle. So I think, or, you know, when, when you truly believe in something, it kind of, it kind of comes through in every single practice and every single thing that you do. And I'm very, very excited to have Saher from Bare Necessities join us today because, you know, how do you take these daily things to more actionable things? Because when we think of sustainable living or zero waste living, we are thinking of an extreme step after we have seen multiple YouTube videos saying, okay, you know, my, my waste is not going

1:44 to be more than a jar.

1:45 But that is the final step and that's, that's at, at a much later stage. But they're little small changes that you can make every day as parents because we need to raise a generation of humans who believe in sustainability because they're going to be the, you know, the future, let me say, they're going to inherit this world at some point in time. So I think it's very, very, very, very important for us because we are the guardians and we are the educators who are actually teaching them this.

2:16 Hey, Saher, so nice to have you.

2:18 Hi, Maarti, thanks so much for having me.

2:20 I must ask you this because, you know, sometimes when, when you believe in something, you tend to be a little harsh on others who Don't. Did that happen to you? There are people around weren't making those conscious choices. What's that bothering you? Because that bothers me, honestly, at first,

2:38 when I was like, really making my first few steps towards living a more sustainable lifestyle, and if someone, you know, around me kind of did something that like, came something in like, excessive packaging, I would, like, want to say something and like, stop myself. And then I realized, you know, it's. You can't be preachy. I think it's everyone's very individual journey and everyone needs to come to living a lifestyle that's congruent with their values whenever it is.

3:07 Might not be today, might not be tomorrow, and if.

3:11 Yeah.

3:11 So I just kind of started to be a little bit more mindful about separating and compartmentalizing a little bit. And to be honest, I also was saying, like, I know what's in my power and what I can do to make information accessible. And if people want to potentially be part of this solution, that's amazing. But equally not being kind of really harsh or judgmental on others who aren't, because I think it's a journey and everyone, you know, we all go through ebbs and flows and we all on different journeys, but whether it's of self discovery or good positive body image or, you know, good parenting, I mean, everyone's on some sort of journey.

3:49 So first it will bother you and then you reach a point where you do not get irritated, but you make them more conscious and get them. And I truly believe that some, you know, a good leader is one who gets them onto your journey without intimidating them or being threatening or, you know, anything like that. So I completely, completely agree with you. And especially with children, I must tell you that my experience with that, you know, my kids have never known a choice there.

4:21 Right. So I think when you limit those choices, even for people, Right. Why do people make wrong, like, you know, like everybody would say, there are no wrong people, there are no bad people, there are bad circumstances. Right. So I would say there are no bad choices and there are no bad decisions. There are bad choices.

4:40 Right.

4:41 So exactly with that, you know, when. When you're going to a restaurant or you're going out with your kids or whatever, if you're carrying the solution with you, which is a possible water bottle, a possible snack, a cutlery set, a straw, you will make the, you know, you're tempting them to make the right decisions, you know, they will not be impulsively picking up on that straw. Sorry, did you show me something?

5:04 Yeah, the same Thing that you just kind of said, you know, that little kit with your straw and little Ben, you know, necessities that you need on the go to be kind of a plastic free life like you were just kind of describing, right?

5:18 Like, I cannot even tell you how anal I am about carrying my own cutlery set because I just feel like, oh my God, you know, how can you be so. Like even picking up that straw at Starbucks, I think we do it so mindlessly or picking up, you know, or picking up that distillery bottle in, in meeting rooms and conference rooms. I feel it is such a mindless action. I don't know how, how to get people to be more conscious about it.

5:47 In fact, at some point in time when we were meeting people, which was almost a year and a half ago, I would actually film boardrooms that had distillery bottles. I could of course not tag those clients, ever get to meet them again. But I just feel like this boardroom, you know, in charge, need to know and that decision needs to kind of flow from top down. But tell me something, for somebody who wants to start and embrace that journey, what would be the first five easy steps you would tell them?

6:18 Yeah, I mean, that's a great question. I think we all, you know, have plenty of water and you kind of already mentioned that like, so carrying your own water glass stainless steel bottle would be amazing accessories to go with that for me is this little kind of collapsible cup because I love my coffee and I love my Gunneka juice on a hike and things like that. So actually this is a really good camping essential and it's completely collapsible, so it doesn't occupy a lot of space.

6:48 And then the next thing is, you know, any stainless steel or any kind of cutlery that you might have at home is awesome, so go ahead and use it. But I have a little spoon and fork, so it doesn't occur that much space. It's a spoke, depends on what I'm using. And then I think the next thing we all do when we wake up in the morning is just like brush our teeth, right? So if we could use a miswak stick or a neem stick, or we could use a bamboo toothbrush or just use plain up coconut oil, those are great kind of alternatives.

7:18 And then I think as things start up in like schools or offices, carrying your own kind of stainless steel tiffin or a collapsible silicon, you know, box might be good alternatives as well. Even if we're just like walking on, you know, and you know, get excited to have that pani puri or whatever. In a post Covid world, kind of just carrying your own dabba makes it so easy to grab a snack on the go or carry your own.

7:46 So I guess those are my five super easy hacks to live a more sustainable life. Well, Mansi, I wanted to ask you though, you know, how did you incorporate living more sustainably with your two kids?

7:57 You know, like I said that they've never been. And I must say this as a disclaimer, right. That you know when, and I'm sure that happens to you as well, right? That when you, when you believe or you are a flag bearer of something that you believe in, people are constantly scrutinizing you, that you and people around you are bearing that flag as well. Right? So I think first, you know, let them, let them get rid of their burden because you know, while they may, they may walk a certain mile, they don't need to walk the whole mile with you.

8:31 Right? So that's one. Also the second bit I would say is that you know, exactly what you said, easy replacements, right? Carry your own bottle, carry your own dabba, carry your own spoon, tune in for carry. Do not think 25 times before you need to open that distillery bottle. Do I really need it? And I think just doing that has made them so conscious now that they said now know that they cannot leave a house, leave their house without a bottle, right?

9:00 And think of it, you know, kids inherently like it's such an easy change for a mother to make because inherently why should that change later?

9:13 Why should that ever change when the

9:14 child is 4, 5 and can unscrew a biscillary bottle and have it, Right. That should not be a practice. And children are the easiest people to train because they are so much more aware and acceptable. Right. And again, like you mentioned, the lunchbox, right. While I know we're extremely tempted to give them the Barbies and the Disney's and you know, whatever that are in fashion or whatever. But, but you know, if you actually tell them that it's the plastic that's seeping into their food, even if it's food grade plastic and you know, it can be reusable for a certain amount of time, but that's, you know, the shelf life of that is, is not very good.

9:53 Even melamine plates for that matter, I cannot even tell you the. And I know that and I'm giving you all the ones that are easy. You know, where moms are easy victims, right? The melamine plates are the worst of a lot, right? Yeah. And don't. And for once I, I think it was to explain to myself that environment, of course. But the second is it's also so toxic for my child. Like okay, the food looks really great, it looks great on Instagram and blah blah, blah.

10:19 But at the end of the day I'm feeding my child toxins, right? So that's not. So that is a really big change. And I would say to all the parents out there, ditch those plates, those fancy looking plates. Do not feel shy of putting down a steel cup plate or a steel cut chammaj or a. You know, traditionally, if you think, you know, when kids were born, we always gave a chandike battan to the child, right?

10:43 Like chandika plate and a chandika bowl and chammaj and glass.

10:47 Right.

10:47 That was the Indian mindset. So to think of it, we were already a sustainable culture, right? A race that was anyway sustainable. And if you actually eat in that, it is far. It's much better for your health in any case than eating from plastic. So why are you making, you know, never will our child ever eat in that, but they will eat in everything else. So I said, let's bring that out. So that was another change.

11:14 Even the coconut oil, you know, whether it's oil pulling or whatever and you know, off late, I've been seeing lots of people coming up with sachets of coconut oil. And you know, I think it's very tempting for people to do that. But you don't realize at the end of the day, oil switch, you know, swishing is just taking a spoonful of coconut oil into your mouth. So why, why travel, make, you know, increase your carbon footprint of warehouse to your home and a sachet which is in a foil, blah, blah, blah.

11:43 So all of that and the last, which even, even something that we do is even a comb, right. Even using a wooden comb is far more, you know. Right. I mean, and it breaks their hair. Right. And the last one is, moms, please stop packing your kids lunches and sandwiches in aluminum foil and clean. They are the worst of the lot, right. We think, oh, aluminum foil, you know, but that aluminum is seeping into your food.

12:17 So why do that? Right? So I think, and the key is to explain it to the child. Because if you explain to the child, the child has enough pest of power to convince the mother versus the reverse.

12:29 Yeah, I think they're very very, you

12:32 know, they're very very understanding if you explain them the logic. So in my case, logic is worked Amazing.

12:39 Thank you so much sharing Bring back those stainless steel plates with those beautiful compartments. I'm South Indian, so, you know, stainless steel is like part of every household, whether it's water, coffee, everything. So I totally agree. And then kind of communicating that messaging from a really early age and definitely when we're right, like from when we're in school, we pack our little water bottle and our tiffin and things like that. So what stops us as we grow up to stop carrying that water bottle?

13:06 Right. Actually, I still do all of the things that my mom used to make me do as a little kid. Like, I used to always have four almonds in the morning. And I am many years older, but I literally still have four almonds every morning. So whatever. You know, those little seeds that plant at a really early age, I. I think we're sometimes underestimate the power that it actually has on lives. Yeah, absolutely.

13:30 And you know, coming back to that four almonds that you mentioned, I think another great way of inculcating this is reducing their choices. Right? Because when you have too many options means again, you're over consuming. Right. And when you get into that habit of not consuming mindfully, you are reaching a stage where, you know, you are buying, discarding, buying, discarding. So your enemy is doing more damage than good.

13:54 Right?

13:54 So I think like you said, you know, keep things in, in, you know, when things are scarce, they're valued more. So those four almonds meant a lot more to you versus what you, you know, what would it would mean now? So I think keep things in scarce, your kids will value it for much, much longer. Sir, next up, I want to ask you is about, you know, really bother me are, you know, shampoo containers and you know, sometimes we buy little ones, sometimes we buy large ones, sometimes we buy medium.

14:24 We buy multiple of them. How do you make sure that you're making sustainable choices there as well?

14:32 Yeah, definitely. Well, this is a subtle plug for bare necessities. You can get shampoo that's made from aloe vera as a base with some amazing kind of combinations of oils and curried leaves. And we actually have a refill bar in Bangalore, so people actually come with the containers and kind of fill in as much as they want. So that's one alternative. But equally, there are amazing businesses. There might be an auntie in your building or apartment complex making some amazing shampoo.

14:59 So kind of seeing if you can kind of experiment with those. I know it can be a little hard to be a little experimental with our hair because at the end of the day we need to Present ourselves, you know, to our colleagues and whatnot. But if you do have that kind of resilience to experiment. Soap nuts are super cool, Rita. You can kind of just boil them in water and you get a very soapy, naturally lathering liquid that you can use as a shampoo as well.

15:27 So, you know, that might be another alternative. And then kind of nourishing it with some hydrating kind of oils that you like could be a good hair care routine. But also there are amazing sustainable brands that are making shampoo bars. So you've got to just find what works for your hair because all of our PH levels are different, all of our consistencies different. So it is a little bit of experimentation, but totally worth it. Because once you find the right alternative, you're kind of set for life and you're help, you know, helping divert so many single use plastic units from entering in your life every day.

15:57 In your lifetime, actually you can save like upwards of 300 different plastic jars if you transition to plastic free shampoo. So that's a really good question, right?

16:09 Also I must add that guys, you know, and this typically happens, which I must say, but you know, the minute I share something or the minute I share anything about sustainability or a new product or something like that, you want to, you know, people want to suddenly buy that, right? So I guess the objective of this life is that do not throw away everything that you have and then try to rebuild a sustainable lifestyle. Right? You have to eliminate that gradually, slowly.

16:38 But that does not mean that you fill your Amazon cards right away and say, okay, everything in my house is going to be glass and everything in my, you know, I'm gonna only buy this. You have to complete that process of disowning and distancing what you have. I mean, I don't know if that happens to you, but that most definitely happens to me. And I tell people that, you know, you don't need to go and like, this is no fancy water bottle.

16:57 It's just my almond milk bottle, which I get from my, you know, from the lady or a juice bottle that I must have received as somewhere. So you possibly don't need to fill your cart with saying, okay, I need to buy more or I need to buy glass bottles suddenly. Do not make that mistake. So, so I think that's, that's a very, very, very.

17:17 Absolutely. I can't agree more. Absolutely. You can't kind of buy your way into sustainable living. I think it's more about kind of very incremental lifestyle choices. And while sometimes People say like, oh, my God, is that one plastic straw really going to matter to me for being really honest? Zero waste living is something that's very tangible and internal. And if we're all thinking about, you know, cl, we know the science, we know that there's anywhere from seven to 10 years left and we can't really decarbonize our economies like you and I, Right.

17:52 And for me, working in the environmental sphere for so long, it was getting a little, you know, I had a little bit of eco anxiety, to be honest. And for me, this was a very tangible way in which you can visualize your impact by reducing your waste, you know, And I think while this is the first step in the larger, the bigger picture is actually kind of moving towards a more circular economy. Things that we used to do, you know, our bazaars, our.

18:20 That's something that just so native in our Indian DNA, to be honest. So in a way where zero waste lifestyle are like baby steps into building a more circular economy, which is kind of redefining how our cities, our groceries, how things are managed, produced, and kind of go back eventually. And it's a very systemic approach. It requires everyone needs policy people, it needs, you know, designers, it needs design thinkers, it needs manufacturers. But I think that these are just kind of directions in which we are kind of rebuilding that cleaner, more greener, more just world.

18:51 And we shouldn't underestimate the power that we do have through some of these just quick mindful steps.

18:57 Right. Also, somebody's asked a question on sustainable fashion brands.

19:02 Ooh, so many to name. First of all, the most sustainable item on your clothes in your closet is the ones that you have already. But equally, if you have an old dupatta, wanna upcycle it, you know, call your local tailor, make something fun and content, contemporary out of it. But brands that I love, you know, there's Sui, there is Doodle Age. Gosh, there are so many sustainable clothing brands that I love. There's Lonali, House of Lonali.

19:33 Yeah, I know. Just look out there and see whatever resonates with you and your style and your fashion and. Yeah, go for it.

19:42 Yeah, absolutely. And sustainability sustainable also. I must ask you this question because I know I was asked this at another, you know, another panel that I was on, which was on bamboo dresses. Are they really sustainable?

19:56 So, honestly, a lot of the materials that are currently in our clothing are synthetic. Right. And that kind of transition from us, this country that employs the second largest population of our citizens in the artisanal and the textile sector.

20:13 Right.

20:14 And we move from that handloom that spun that, you know, Ikat bandini, all of that, into this kind of fast fashion, consumeristic, western dominant kind of rhetoric of what it means to be stylish and fashionable.

20:27 Right.

20:28 And that's when polyester and spandex and all of these synthetics kind of invaded our economies and lifestyles. So now, of course, there is kind of this movement back into more sustainable fabrics. Cotton, cotton is also very kind of water intensive and things like that. But anyway, there's hemp, there's linen, there's tinsel and there's bamboo. Honestly, these are more natural kind of textiles and they're more regenerative. So they do. And go back to the earth versus synthetics that actually don't ever biodegrade.

21:03 And every time you do a laundry load, actually from your synthetic laundry or your clothes, it kind of emits tiny, tiny, tiny microplastics. So those are like tiny pieces of plastic that you cannot see with the naked eye. They're less than 0.5 millimeters. And that's eventually going down the drains, getting into the water streams, going to the soil in which you're trying to grow your food. And in a week, all of us are basically consuming a credit size worth of plastic.

21:29 And that's when, you know, you can see strong correlations in the health sector as well about what we're doing to our health. So, yes, you know, you know, bamboo, tinsel, hemp, fabrics, these are all more kind of naturally occurring and then eventually do break down and can go back to the earth. When you do buy clothing though, buy something that is all made out of the same plus same material. The mixed material is what makes it kind of harder to recycle or break down and things like that.

22:00 Right.

22:01 Also coming to when you said laundry and detergents and things like that, I must add there that again, guys, those are massive water pollutants. So again, what should be. And I know we did this episode with Pragya Kapoor on Jiosawan, which is sustainable brands and climate change. And she, she actually said that, you know why we need to be more conscious of the floor cleaners and the laundry detergents, because the water pollution levels can also be really, really hard on.

22:35 You know, that's again, a big climate crisis. So any recommendations there?

22:40 Yeah, definitely, if you can. And if you're up for it, making your own kind of DIY bioenzymes is amazing. All you need is like orange peels and jaggery and tap water essentially to make amazing multipurpose detergent that you can use for your floor, your toilets, your surfaces, your kitchen counters and everything. But if not equally, definitely support businesses that align with your values because you do kind of work with your wallets, kind of the end of the day to kind of redefine a more cleaner world.

23:11 So yeah, that. Those are my, my quick kind of suggestions on that. Because you're right. Absolutely. You know, polluting groundwater and diminishing of our groundwater aquifers is going to be a huge. In fact, there is research to suggest that we aren't going to fight for, you know, like big historic wars that have occurred in the past. You know, wars of our future actually going to be around water and resources because they're becoming so scarce, which is this really scary thought.

23:41 So definitely really important to keep our aquifers, you know, rejuvenated and kind of as far as possible have kind of semi permeable surfaces and not just concretize everything. So there's enough groundwater retouch going back to the earth. And also that we are not sending kind of really bad polluted water with all of these crazy chemical and detergents, but ones that are definitely more naturally occurring so they go back to the earth. Yeah, there's someone who's asking for the recipe.

24:11 Yes, yes, Actually I was going to ask you that. You must tell us a quick few DIYs for. I know if you look up the Internet you will find toothpaste and floor cleaners and sanitizers and all of that. So if you can give us a, before we leave, a few quick DIYs to do.

24:29 Yeah, definitely. Okay, so bioenzymes is amazing. All you need is 10 parts of water, so like roughly 1 liter. And then you need three parts of orange peels. So you can use citrus peels, orange peels, lime peels, any of those. And then you need one part or like roughly 100 grams of jaggery. You just put it all in a big kind of plastic container or a big, very thick glass jar, because we're saying plastic because tends to ferment and expand a little.

25:01 So if you're using a very kind of low grade glass, it could kind of cause it to break. So if you already have like an old Tupperware or something like that, it's perfect to use it. What you can do every day in the morning, you can kind of just burp it like, which means just open the water bottle a little and if you do have like a pinch of yeast, you can add that and that expedites the process of fermentation.

25:24 So it takes only one month to get ready versus three months without the yeast. And then if you really want something really quickly, you can just use baking soda, vinegar, water and some essential oils. And that's kind of ready to use almost immediately to kind of clean your surfaces.

25:41 Before we end, of course, I had quick few questions and try and answer them as short as possible. What prompted you to write the book?

25:50 I think there was a gap in the ecosystem with like Indian content. Like, you know, the zero waste movement was kind of dominated by a very western rhetoric that I think there was a need for something that advocated for something that was more relevant to the Indian audience.

26:05 And what's that one thing that we can we'll get in the book that's not on your Instagram page already?

26:10 Oh my God. These gorgeous illustrations that my colleague Molly has done. And it's kind of got this huge library of sorts. So each chapter has all of the resources, all of the recipes, all of the people who really work in the space to provide a more sustainable solution. So it's a one stop shop. Okay.

26:31 And if there's one switch that you need people to make the first step, what should that be?

26:36 Carrying your own water bottle. Because we all need water to sustain.

26:40 Right. And have you reached the zero waste jar? Have you reached that stage?

26:47 I have a 500 ML jar. I do.

26:51 I want to see how filled is it? I mean I'm sure as we barely filled. But guys must also add that. You have to add even things that you buy, even the labels, the tags, the little plastic string. That's also waste. So be very, very mindful of buying new clothes products because it's all going in there and say hey, of course. With all of it ordering in and all the boxes that come with various delivery portals, how do you manage?

27:21 Does that come under your zero weighted zero waste lifestyle or do you not include it now that we're living off delivery portals?

27:29 Yeah, to be honest, I don't order a lot. My mom and I cook plenty and we enjoy it. It's kind of like a way of kind of going down. When I do order, I try and get it from the most sustainable options or I take my own. I mean I'm not perfect and in the pandemic I definitely have gotten some things but you know, just wash them all out. Especially things that food containers that are coming in plastic, wash it and segregated and look at the number in the back and you know, you can recycle at least some of those dry valuables.

28:03 And you can also kind of keep upcycling that same kind of plastic box a couple of times. So just try and add more, you know, cycles or uses to that before hopefully eventually it goes somewhere else. Yeah.

28:17 What's the last message you would want to give everyone on why they should adopt a sustainable lifestyle?

28:24 Oh, man. It's now or never. And if, you know, we don't do it well and we want to give a better planet to future generations, I mean, I have a niece and nephew that I like, absolutely love and adore. And, you know, if I'm going on a beautiful hike with either of them and they see all of this plastic around, I mean, I just want to say that, you know, I. I tried not to kind of add more to this and I tried to kind of advocate for a solution.

28:52 So we have only this one planet. And so it's now or never.

28:56 Thank you so much for joining us today. It was absolutely incredible to chat with you and wish you all the very best in the book and with Bare Necessities.

29:03 Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Thanks so much. Mansi was so fun chatting with you and hearing all of your insights about how you incorporate sustainability with the girls. And whenever you're in Bangalore, come hang out at Bear, of course.

29:15 Thanks. Thanks so much.

29:18 Bye.