5 Years Without a Dustbin: How One Mumbai Family Made Sustainability Simple.

 

At Sonika Bhasin’s Mumbai home, sustainability is second nature. From composting kitchen scraps and switching to bioenzymes to cutting out disposables, her family’s everyday choices over the last five years are nurturing a greener, cleaner future. And it’s easier than you think!

Every day at Sonika Bhasin’s Mumbai home unfolds with a rhythmic routine. On the kitchen countertop sits a large container, ready to collect the peels and ends of vegetables — remnants of meals yet to be prepared. By evening, these organic scraps find their way into an earthen composter, snugly nestled in a cosy corner of her balcony.

Sonika smiles warmly, her eyes twinkling with a blend of pride and wonder, as she describes the magical transformation that unfolds within its layers. “The process is natural alchemy: time, microorganisms, and a balance of greens and browns create rich, earthy compost — nature’s black gold,” she says.

This compost feeds her garden, turning kitchen waste into vibrant basil, mint, tomatoes, lemons, and curry leaves, which find their way back into her kitchen,

Her son, Abir, wide-eyed with curiosity, marvels at this daily miracle, learning the invaluable lesson that waste need not be wasteful.

Mindful choices beyond the compost

Sonika’s commitment doesn’t stop at composting. Her home is a testament to conscious consumption and mindful choices. She has dedicated a bag to collect all dry waste, such as plastic items, paper, cardboard, glass, aluminium, and e-waste. “Every two weeks, a recycling service called 5R Cycle visits our home to collect the accumulated dry waste. This has been our practice for the last five years,” she says.

Beyond dry and wet waste, there’s also a third category known as reject waste — items like used sanitary pads and diapers, which are neither recyclable nor compostable.

“We strive to avoid producing this kind of waste by minimising disposable usage. We prioritise reusable products, such as cloth napkins instead of tissues. I use a menstrual cup or period panties, ensuring that my menstrual cycle generates no waste. When my son was in diapers, we exclusively used reusable cloth diapers,” she adds.

Sonika’s impact isn’t limited to friends and colleagues — her online presence has inspired many others as well. In 2022, Eleena Sanyal Banerji from Powai, Mumbai, came across one of Sonika’s Instagram posts about the dangers of using wet wipes for children. She found Sonika’s advice clear, concise, and compelling, and it sparked a change in her own household.

Inspired by her, Eleena has been composting her wet waste in a terracotta pot for three years, ensuring that no wet waste leaves her home. She has also eliminated single-use plastics and encourages her family to do the same. “My young son once went to a birthday party and forgot to carry his cloth napkin. He came back and told me, ‘Ma, it felt wrong to use tissue paper!’ I knew that day that I had done something right in my life,” she says.

For Sonika, it’s been five years of sustainable living — five years of mindful choices, of embracing less to give more.

Transitioning from a conventional urban lifestyle to a sustainable one was not an overnight transformation. It began with curiosity, grew with research, and blossomed into a full-fledged lifestyle change.

Though she acknowledges the lingering anxieties of climate change, Sonika rests easy knowing that her actions, however small, contribute to a healthier planet for her son and generations to come.

“And it is this blend of hope, responsibility, and the everyday magic of transforming waste into wonder that defines my journey of turning simple acts into a life-saving harmony with the Earth,” smiles Sonika.

Edited by Khushi Arora; All images courtesy Sonika Bhasin