Zhao Jing picks up a discarded plastic oil container and turns it into a chic handbag. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"Big-city consumerism demands that you keep on buying new stuff, which is soon overtaken by newer products. I used to think that if I wanted to get stuff I needed to earn money, but I have realized that to acquire many things you don't need money."

Turning her back on such mainstream values, she sought tranquillity in nature in an artistic atmosphere, and Wutong Mountain was where she has found it, she says.

"For me, happiness comes in simplicity, and I feel joy when I have made a beautiful item out of waste and when I stroll along the mountain. Designing clothes as a job never gave me such joy."

That job put her under a lot of pressure, she says, but her mountain life gives her more time to be with herself, understand herself and know what she wants from life.

"Being away from fast-paced urban living has given me resolve about where I want to go in life. My mind is calm and I feel enriched."

Still, setting up a life for herself on the mountain was far from easy, she says, and with no job income her savings soon ran out. She then looked at various ways of making a living, such as making clothes out of environmentally friendly materials.

"I don't want whatever I am transforming to be commercial; I simply want to tell others about what I'm doing and do so online."

More people have become familiar with the idea of zero waste in recent years and are willing to lead a green life to reduce consumption and wasting resources, she says.

"To go zero waste it's important to reduce consumption and use sustainable necessities. We need to persuade more people to promote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle."

She has set up a WeChat group about environmental protection on Wutong Mountain and anyone gathering disposed items tells others so they can use it to create new things if they want to. They also compare notes with one another on how to create new things from the old.