HYDERABAD: Before an empty shampoo bottle, perfume container or any other recyclable household item reaches the dustbin, it makes one final stop, at a recycler.For 26-year-old software engineer Simran Virani, waste segregation is not an occasional practice but a daily habit.“Every recyclable item generated at home is sorted and handed over to a private recycler instead of the municipality. Landfills are only growing hills of garbage and environmental hazards, and I don’t want to contribute to them,” she says.Simran’s sustainability journey began during her college years with a simple decision to stop using plastic carry bags. Today, a cloth bag is a permanent part of her daily routine, whether she’s grocery shopping, buying clothes or running errands.That single change gradually evolved into a more sustainable lifestyle.She now reuses RO reject water for household purposes, carries a steel water bottle wherever she goes to avoid packaged drinking water, and even takes her own steel containers when ordering takeaway food to avoid disposable plastic packaging.More recently, Simran has turned her attention to textile waste, choosing clothes made from natural fibres and avoiding polyester and other synthetic fabrics whenever possible.Her eco-conscious choices extend to everyday products as well, from a yoga mat made of natural cork and rubber to bamboo toothbrushes that replace plastic ones.“Living sustainably has replaced impulsive buying with conscious decisions about what I really need,” she says.Her lifestyle has also influenced those around her. Family members, friends and colleagues have begun carrying reusable shopping bags and steel water bottles, and some have even started reusing RO reject water after seeing her do it consistently.Looking ahead, Simran hopes to compost kitchen waste, participate in city clean-up drives and work with schools to encourage children to adopt eco-friendly habits from an early age.
