"You're so nice, skipping the plastic bag and bringing your own container for baby spinach," the stall owner at wet market said to me.

Have you ever counted how many plastic bags or containers that you've got from grocery shopping or takeaway order in a year? Perhaps you'd never realized as you may have the habit of just throwing the bags and containers into the rubbish bin, without separating them aside for recycling.

I somehow started separating different types of 'unwanted' packing materials for recycling (or reusing) few years ago, when I started my birdwatching 'hobby'. It's the time when I stepped into the Nature, I noted how 'unnatural' my life has been and how human activities have been affecting the lives of other living creatures.

I soon realized how little 'rubbish' I actually had, but lots of 'unwanted' stuff are not necessary at all.

• Why do I need a plastic bag at all, while I can bring my own shopping bag? If I'm shopping for frozen food or vegetables, why not carry an insulated bag?

• Why do I have buy takeaway, instead of spending it time to dine-in (plus giving myself bit rest time for proper meal & staying away from work to refresh my brain/ eyes)?

• Why not think whether there is second use of 'unwanted' stuff? We can then perhaps skip buying new stuff to save money.

• Why not bring your own bottle of water everyday, instead of buying bottled water/ drinks? It saves you money; it's healthy to keep drinking water; it brings much less negative impact to the environment.

It did take me bit time to adjust my habit. After it's adjusted it's natural to do green shopping, and live a greener live.