'Waste not, want not,' minimalists say

Perseverance

Through her vlog, Su soon found that she was not alone in living a sustainable lifestyle.

At the beginning, very few people watched the films she uploaded to video-sharing site Bilibili. However, her perseverance over the past year has paid off as many of the 23 videos she has made have been viewed about 20,000 times.

In one of her videos, she shows how to make reusable beeswax food wraps. In another, she illustrates the process of making natural washing powder.

She has amassed over 10,000 followers in a minimalist group she set up on Douban, China's major review platform. Almost 500 of her die-hard fans have also joined a WeChat group she established, where they share environmental information and exchange objects they no longer need.

Encouraged by Su, many members of the WeChat group have ratcheted up their efforts to lead environmentally friendly lives.

For instance, Ding Nan from Xiamen, Fujian province, has said goodbye to all bottled drinks and restaurant takeouts. No matter where she goes, she carries a reusable plastic box so she can avoid disposable plastic containers.

Even before she met Su online, the 23-year-old, who graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing last year, had been endeavoring to make her parents more aware of environmental issues.

She scored an early success, though it sparked a series of small quarrels initially.

"I frequently asked my father to bring the plastic bag back home after dumping our waste in the trash bin. He was unhappy, and argued that instead of making that request, I should go downstairs to dump the waste myself," she said.

In another move, her father criticized her for doing too much shopping online. Eventually, they both made steps toward becoming better environmentalists.

Her father brings the bag back for reuse and she has only bought two pieces of clothing online in the past six months.