00:00American expat Nyla McCann is an eco-warrior, and how. McCann is a crusader, raising awareness
00:11on the ills of plastic consumption. And she lives by what she so strongly believes in.
00:18It started actually before I was even born. In the 70s, my father lived in Africa, in
00:25Mali, in the Sahara Desert, where food is extremely scarce. So I was born obviously
00:34much later, but my sisters and I were raised very much in the mentality of do not waste.
00:42There are people who are starving, there are people who have significantly less than we
00:45do, and we're extremely lucky to have what we have. So we will not waste anything. This
00:52planet is supporting us with food, with shelter, with everything that we need, with oxygen
00:57even. Then what can you do to respect that? If you respect something, you take care of
01:01it, you nurture it, and you treat it with as much respect and love that you receive.
01:09It's easy to lay the blame on somebody else. The government isn't doing this, or people
01:13should do that, and the stores should do this. But at the end of the day, you decide what
01:20you do with your own life. So I decided with my life, I was just not going to waste any
01:26more.
01:27Okay, so basically, in order to make the deodorant that I make myself, I combine a couple different
01:36ingredients for different reasons. We've got baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, which
01:42is an odor absorber. It absorbs odors and it absorbs moisture. This is arrowroot. Arrowroot
01:56also absorbs moisture, but it kind of keeps everything together. But what really keeps
02:00everything together is coconut oil. I like to get refined coconut oil because it doesn't
02:06smell like anything. It just keeps everything together. And then I use tea tree oil, which
02:14is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and it smells amazing. So that's kind of what
02:21keeps everything together. And you just combine a few of the ingredients. Two. That's going
02:35to be enough. Combine the powders. Oh baby. The recipe that I found online pretty much
02:47used arrowroot as deodorant because it absorbs moisture. It's not rocket science. You just
02:57take like a little bit of it, like that much, and rub it on your hands. And then rub that
03:07under your arm. Now I've deodorized fingers. They smell amazing. When I am out and about
03:17in Dubai living life like a normal person, there are certain things that I like to keep
03:23on me at all times just to make sure that I'm prepared and I don't have to consume plastic.
03:29One of the, I think, most useful has been this little organic bamboo spoon fork because
03:38I can get wet items and I can eat salads, and it's really easy to wash. If that doesn't
03:47work, I have several sets of chopsticks that I carry around. These are reusable ones. These
03:54are antiques actually given to me by my grandmother. And then these are just your
03:58normal wooden ones that come with any Chinese food or sushi. And I try to carry a few just so
04:07that no one at the table has the excuse to consume plastic. And then I also carry a couple
04:14different straws. We've got a metal straw that is larger for smoothies or thicker beverages,
04:21and then a bamboo straw, which is quite narrow for juices and waters and what have you. And
04:27then if I need to take something with me to go, like a sandwich or a wrap, then I can wrap it up
04:33in this homemade beeswax wrap. And I did not make this. I won't take credit for that, but I do know
04:42a woman in the U.S. who makes these. And basically it just sticks to itself like a cling wrap or
04:50saran wrap so that, say for example, I have a little bit of a sandwich left, then I'll just
04:56wrap it up and put it in my bag for later. Or even a piece of fruit that I want to wash and cut up
05:06before I go out. So I might chop up some apples and throw it in this and then take it with me so
05:12that I don't have to use like a plastic sandwich bag or anything like that.
05:16As you can see, McCann is doing her bit, but are you ready to do yours? Why not make a beginning today?
05:23Because tomorrow is another day. Anjana Kumar, Gulf News.
Comments