It has been too long since my last blog. I had realized that I write better when something affects me deeply or when I have a strong opinion on some matter (that's why my SOPs sucks!). It took so long for either of these to happen or plainly just to overcome the basic human inertia to do anything that is good. I felt a pressing need to write something on Earth Day (just to contribute more crap to what has already been piling up on earth) to show how strongly I feel about how mindlessly we ill-treat nature. Since when did I care about these things??? Since forever!!! I have always been eager to do what is good, though (the inertia thing again) I may not make it a part of life, I would have done them at least once; like exercising once in a blue moon, drinking 8 glasses of water totally in a fortnight, like taking the stairs instead of elevator once in several months... (I think I have damaged myself sufficiently, so lets move on). But I think this consciousness of the environment is going to hang on forever and has been in me ever since I sang the nursery rhyme "Bits of paper lying on the ground...".
Buy like Indian:
'Going Green' is not at all difficult and is not at all something we have never done. We just need to be Indian again. Have I ever forgotten to take my own bags to get vegetables in India? No way! The shopkeeper anna would scream at me. For some reason he had so much trouble parting with the few plastic bags that he used to have. For every plastic cover he has to part with he would crib and frown and see to it that I bring my own grand-mom knit wire-baskets next time. We want back those miserly shop-keepers who were stingy with their plastic bags. And talking about grand-mom knit baskets, (which I used to avoid at the age of 7 'cos they were not fashionable !!!!!) bring them out now and I would proudly shop with them at Publix. The other day at Aldi (this store comes in the stingy shopkeeper list) where they do not give out plastic bags, I saw a couple of Americans carry our very own Chennai-Silks (yeah, my grandfather owns it) jute bags for groceries. When they can Go-Green with our bags can't we , the ones who introduced them do better? And for those incessantly forgetful, yet pathetically trying to be eco-friendly shoppers, here is a tip. The next time you forget your bag, just try carrying what you shop in your hands and shoulders (here's a picture: a bag of onions on your shoulder, a dozen eggs under one arm that is already carrying a gallon or two of milk while supporting a couple of boxes of yogurt against your body, alternately, you can also try one trip to the car for each item ^evil^). Believe me you will never forget your bags again. Been there & done that!
Reuse like Indian:
This might bring back some childhood memories for some, when our moms used to carefully separate out unused sheets from older notebooks and stitch them up together as a new note book to be used the next year at school. I used to hate the fact that I had to carry a roughly put together whilst the other kids bring new ones with glossy colorful hardcovers. But now I just can't stop admiring the idea. No sheet of paper was thrown away until every visible inch of white area on the paper was cramped with practices of spellings or rough calculations or sometimes to make a shopping lists. Oh oh.. and here's one more (sorry, I just got excited about how effectively eco-friendly I used to be): our crafts teacher in school made us make paper mache out of the completely used up papers. Yeah, reuse was fun too! The broken bangles used to make kaleidoscopes, colorful old calendars used as covers to protect my favorite books or sometimes gifts, old light bulbs used to grow money plants etc... Directions to places were not printed out from Google maps but remembered partly or scribbled with a pen on the palm. My mom used to hate it when I did that. But hey... that's also reuse (probably, a more efficient use of my hands ;))
Recycle like Indian:
And oh... How I miss the shouts of pedlars in India! The ones who collect old newspapers, the ones who collect old kitchen utensils, plastic milk covers, old clothes and give you money or some small housewares in exchange, did their part towards recycling in a big way. Though to him it was just a job; and for others it is way to exchange old crap for money; and for some others it was just fun to watch the haggling and excitement to see what he has to offer, it still was the first biggest step towards recycling. What we did without thinking in India, needs to be thoughtfully repeated here. So, separate out the plastics and aluminiums from your everyday waste (Sorry, no pedlars to come shouting to remind you!) You will be amazed at the amount of recyclable plastics and aluminum cans that you were mindlessly throwing out earlier. And hey, if like the pedlar exchange you still need a little something to keep you motivated for this act, go ahead and sneak out a twenty from your spouse's wallet (believe me, he will never find out ;)). After all you have done good and done it well!
Buy like Indian:
'Going Green' is not at all difficult and is not at all something we have never done. We just need to be Indian again. Have I ever forgotten to take my own bags to get vegetables in India? No way! The shopkeeper anna would scream at me. For some reason he had so much trouble parting with the few plastic bags that he used to have. For every plastic cover he has to part with he would crib and frown and see to it that I bring my own grand-mom knit wire-baskets next time. We want back those miserly shop-keepers who were stingy with their plastic bags. And talking about grand-mom knit baskets, (which I used to avoid at the age of 7 'cos they were not fashionable !!!!!) bring them out now and I would proudly shop with them at Publix. The other day at Aldi (this store comes in the stingy shopkeeper list) where they do not give out plastic bags, I saw a couple of Americans carry our very own Chennai-Silks (yeah, my grandfather owns it) jute bags for groceries. When they can Go-Green with our bags can't we , the ones who introduced them do better? And for those incessantly forgetful, yet pathetically trying to be eco-friendly shoppers, here is a tip. The next time you forget your bag, just try carrying what you shop in your hands and shoulders (here's a picture: a bag of onions on your shoulder, a dozen eggs under one arm that is already carrying a gallon or two of milk while supporting a couple of boxes of yogurt against your body, alternately, you can also try one trip to the car for each item ^evil^). Believe me you will never forget your bags again. Been there & done that!
Reuse like Indian:
This might bring back some childhood memories for some, when our moms used to carefully separate out unused sheets from older notebooks and stitch them up together as a new note book to be used the next year at school. I used to hate the fact that I had to carry a roughly put together whilst the other kids bring new ones with glossy colorful hardcovers. But now I just can't stop admiring the idea. No sheet of paper was thrown away until every visible inch of white area on the paper was cramped with practices of spellings or rough calculations or sometimes to make a shopping lists. Oh oh.. and here's one more (sorry, I just got excited about how effectively eco-friendly I used to be): our crafts teacher in school made us make paper mache out of the completely used up papers. Yeah, reuse was fun too! The broken bangles used to make kaleidoscopes, colorful old calendars used as covers to protect my favorite books or sometimes gifts, old light bulbs used to grow money plants etc... Directions to places were not printed out from Google maps but remembered partly or scribbled with a pen on the palm. My mom used to hate it when I did that. But hey... that's also reuse (probably, a more efficient use of my hands ;))
Recycle like Indian:
And oh... How I miss the shouts of pedlars in India! The ones who collect old newspapers, the ones who collect old kitchen utensils, plastic milk covers, old clothes and give you money or some small housewares in exchange, did their part towards recycling in a big way. Though to him it was just a job; and for others it is way to exchange old crap for money; and for some others it was just fun to watch the haggling and excitement to see what he has to offer, it still was the first biggest step towards recycling. What we did without thinking in India, needs to be thoughtfully repeated here. So, separate out the plastics and aluminiums from your everyday waste (Sorry, no pedlars to come shouting to remind you!) You will be amazed at the amount of recyclable plastics and aluminum cans that you were mindlessly throwing out earlier. And hey, if like the pedlar exchange you still need a little something to keep you motivated for this act, go ahead and sneak out a twenty from your spouse's wallet (believe me, he will never find out ;)). After all you have done good and done it well!
4 comments:
Nice post. I would seriously appreciate if you would change the colors. Very difficult to read. btw, where is the pic?
Been intending to change the color for a long time. Sorry, no pic for this one. But will try to post one if I take one.
School art class and waste paper bottle.... Memories indeed and good way to recall the earth day...
nice write up. Brings up nostalgic memories.
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