I am a small studio apartment in Calgary, long accustomed to the heavy, plastic-wrapped baggage of transient students. Over the years, my corners have held piles of cheap, disposable goods destined for Alberta’s landfills.
Until she arrived.
She stepped through my door holding a single suitcase – a guest with almost no physical baggage. I felt an immediate sense of pride to house her. In my bathroom, she laid out zero-waste alternatives sourced back home and from Canary Refillery in Kensington – a biodegradable bamboo toothbrush and shampoo bars.
I watch her indulge in her microplastic-free morning routine, a quiet ritual of respect for her own biology and the Earth outside my windows.
When January’s deep freeze settles over Alberta and snow falls, the energy shifts to my kitchen counter. We cook together using eco-alternative appliances and glass containers. As the steam rises, she speaks to me about how learning of the alarming presence of microplastics within the human body sparked a desire to create a clean, organic sanctuary inside herself. She says she wants her temporary home – me – to embody that exact same non-toxic environment.
Her commitment to living light extends past my four walls. At night, under the glow of my desk lamp, I watch her piece together an ‘Eco-Exchange Guide’, mapping out local package-free shops and eco-friendly food markets. She’s sending this map to Global Opportunities team at her home university to prepare for the next wave of exchange students, and plans to leave a physical copy here on my counter for the student who inherits me next year, ensuring they can bypass plastic from the first day I meet them.
Every afternoon, she takes her reusable tote bags out into the crisp air, bypassing corporate supermarkets and their oceans of plastic film. Instead, she steps off the transit line at the Sunnyside Natural Market or visits winter transit pop-up stands to source loose, organic ingredients directly from regional growers. In doing so, she effortlessly aligns with UN SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, by supporting local food systems.
She brings those vibrant ingredients back to my kitchen, bridging the zero-waste habits of my bathroom with the organic choices on my counter top. She often reminds me that she isn’t here to amass physical memorabilia or fill my shelves with collectibles. Instead, she quietly champions UN SDG 12, choosing Responsible Consumption over clutter. To her, this exchange is about soul-enhancing moments and gaining knowledge. She plans to live on this Earth without contributing to its destruction, leaving only the temporary imprints of her shoes in the Canadian snow as evidence.
She knows that physical belongings do not matter when her body returns to the soil and her soul dances somewhere in the universe. Beneath my ceiling, she has turned my four walls into a zero-waste haven, proving that an international student can experience the world deeply while leaving no permanent footprint behind.
