While a zero-waste, environmentally friendly lifestyle sounds great, I learnt avoiding the use of disposables was harder than expected.

For example, the day I decided to go disposables-free for a week was also the day my family decided to order in pizza for dinner. The delivery came with stacks of cardboard boxes and a mound of condiment packets.

I was discouraged, as it seemed that my constant reminders over the past year about not using straws and plastic bags had fallen on deaf ears.

Over the next few days, I realised that a big part of going disposables-free boiled down to planning ahead.

Once, I grudgingly took one of those long plastic sleeves offered at the door of a National Library branch to bag my dripping umbrella.With a little foresight, I could have kept a recycled plastic bag on hand, instead of taking the plastic umbrella sleeves and throwing them away after.

I also had to refrain from buying drinks on impulse, because I did not have a reusable cup with me.

Some habits I already had in place, like using a metal straw and keeping a foldaway tote bag in my day bag for unplanned extra carry.

But others were harder to avoid. For example, not using tissues.

After seven days, I accepted that going disposables-free is no easy task. A particularly memorable experience was walking 1km uphill carrying two cups of bubble tea, without a bag.

While it is easy to surrender to convenience, taking baby steps to cultivate new, green habits is better than taking none at all. I might actually learn to run with the habit of being disposables-free.

The first few months after buying my metal straw, I often forgot to take it with me. But it has since become a stalwart of my bag along with my wallet and phone. It is something I just cannot do without.