Photo by sergio souza on Unsplash

What is the common principle underlying the concept of minimalism, sustainable fashion, and eco tourism?

They all stem from this same ideology — we have much more than we ever need.

Thanks to technological revolution in the last few decades, as a civilisation we have moved from shortage to abundance.

We have more of everything (food, clothing, possessions and information) than our ancestors ever did.

We spend a lot of thought in creating, manufacturing and building but very little thought in disposing, recycling and reusing.

We have only recently started segregating our waste or reducing our dependence on plastic. But we still have a long way to go.

To give you an example — I bought a very expensive mattress which I never used because it wasn’t comfortable. I couldn’t return it or sell it (no one wants to buy a second-hand mattress.)

My options are then very limited — either I might have to discard it as hard waste or donate it. Both of them aren’t easy — there isn’t readily available information, and the means are quite limited.

We need to create easier options and business models for aware consumers to become environment-conscious disposers. This will only happen when we spread awareness and educate masses on sustainability and recycling.