as we go from a lesswaste society in our grandparents time to a resourcehungry one a few indians are trashing their old lifestyles sunday times visits a home in delhi to get a peek into a norubbish lifebuy buy says the sign in the shop window why why says the junk in the yard paul mccartneys junk song is all about us and our incessant urge to buy every sparkly shiny new dream that brands sell us and then trash it because once you have something admit it it doesnt look as shiny as before after years of the corporate ratrace and nonstop partying deepa who goes by just one name decided to stop buying into the mythfor the last four years now this 36yearold south delhi resident has slowly cut down the excess in her life to lead a zerowaste lifestyle at a time when we are all about what we wear the phone we own the car we drive she has worked to not just reduce and recyle but to live by the mantra use what you have borrow swap thrift make and if nothing else works only then buythis means she eats vegan grows a lot of her food in her own kitchen garden and uses the bus or metro to get to her destination instead of hopping into a car or cab she has not bought a bottle of mineral water in the last 10 years always leaves homes with cloth bags and even carries her cutlery to restaurants when she goes out to eat she does have to brave some disdainful looks from restaurant staff but thats par for the course though deepa admits that she has lost some friends who are unable to understand her obsession she tries not to preach to the nonbelievers i believe in relationship over ideology my best friend is vicepresident in a major junk food chain but our friendship is above this she saysa sharp wakeup call came in 2013 when deepa attended a selfdevelopment workshop i was trying to get over a relationship at the time and was in an unhappy place in life this workshop made me take a new look at my relationship with myself with nature animals and with others she recalls earlier head of ticketing in the nowdefunct kingfisher airlines she now works as a sustainable lifestyle coach to help other people ease into a life of 5rs refuse reduce reuse recycle and rot she also describes herself as a holistic cleaning agent who helps people declutter their homes among the social media forums that she has initiated are dariya dil dukaan a panindia gifting forum with over 4700 members it is not a forum for buying or barter people can gift an object they are not using or even a skill or knowledge that may be useful to someone else she says pointing to a laptop and headphones she got from the forum avoiding waste in a city can be tough