After a year long journey with waste, the data on waste impresses those who wish to sustain the project economically. For someone who cares about humanity and planet earth, there are few disturbing questions that arise in our minds about our consumerism.
I remember we generated 650 Kg of plastic covers in 6 months . The material weight do not give any significant number, but in terms of volumes it meant one full truck of plastic covers generated from 220 houses in 6 months. I knew there was money coming from the material, but the shocking aspect to me was that we were generating so much material from a small community . It reminds me of story of stuff (www.storyofstuff.org), it reminds me of the whole material economy. Even if we were to recycle these, it would just be transformed into another plastic product with energy input that goes into recycling. Recycling , should be our last option for waste management.
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| More than 650Kg of plastic covers being loaded onto one truck. The truck doesn't have any other material, ONLY plastic covers.. |
The day I started segregation at source way back in year 2007, one item that we decided to REDUCE was plastic covers. I remember my friends saying that they REUSE them as trash liners . Well, these are toxic liners which finally finds its way into the landfills mixed with food waste. 220 apartments has the potential to dump a minimum of 220
plastic covers reaching landfills per day, which is 79,200 plastic
covers reaching landfills in a year ! If we dump our vegetable waste into these plastic liners, then the waste has the potential to stink faster before it reaches the compost pits. Plastic covers as liner on your trash can is not eco friendly in any way. In order to keep our bins clean, I have seen many consumers demand more plastic covers from the retail outlets ! So then what are our options of REDUCE and REUSE ? I like to give options of REDUCE , since that is the only sustainable way to do effective waste management ... We all agree that these are surely not convenient options. Our convenience has caused inconvenience to the planet and posterity.. Can we collectively care to lead a lesser convenient lifestyle ? How can we as consumers be powerful agents of this change ?
Going back to my grandmother's and my mom's younger days, I was trying to recollect what we used to do .. what was our lifestyle ? and there weren't so much trouble with waste.
1.SAY NO to PLASTIC COVERS, Take Your own shopping bag : Jute bags for grocery and cloth bags that found their way into my vanity bags and bag packs were my options for shopping.(www.smallsteps.in).
Going back to my grandmother's and my mom's younger days, I was trying to recollect what we used to do .. what was our lifestyle ? and there weren't so much trouble with waste.
1.SAY NO to PLASTIC COVERS, Take Your own shopping bag : Jute bags for grocery and cloth bags that found their way into my vanity bags and bag packs were my options for shopping.(www.smallsteps.in).
I remember one incident in Tyson's mall , Virginia, USA where I carried my own bag and the lady at the billing counter refused to bill without her plastic cover citing security reasons. That was one place where I had to react - we took the plastic cover, went out of the mall, and came back with the plastic cover and returned at the desk - Security concern needs to be straightened out at the store for concern for greener planet. I stopped going to Big Bazar in India when they stopped me from taking my jute bag. I stopped buying vegetables from huge supermarkets when I realised there were loads of LD Nice plastic covers that were finding its way through the vegetables in these supermarkets. The natural option for me was my next door vegetable vendor or HOPCOMS in Bangalore.
In the long run, when I look back all these years of avoiding supermarkets for weekend shopping, I found out few behavioural changes in us :
a.We take a shopping list , since we go with one or two bags for shopping. We also ensure that we buy WHAT WE REALLY NEED . Since we had to carry the items, our list was optimised and would ensure WE DO NOT overstock
b. Ensured we buy locally as much as possible, which means we were buying closer to where we live . Our fuel expenses for shopping was almost nil . We either club our shopping with other items on our way back or we buy from walkable distances. The local vendor has anyway spent the fuel for transporting, we need not burn more.
c. Combine your shopping with other needs : Skyrocketing petrol prices are indeed good news for the environment . Money is the only way to peg the unsatiating hunger for wants..Keep a bag in your vehicle and combine your shopping needs if you need a specific item which is not locally available.
d.Our needs are based on locally available, seasonal products and not globally produced products that have travelled around the globe.
In the long run, when I look back all these years of avoiding supermarkets for weekend shopping, I found out few behavioural changes in us :
a.We take a shopping list , since we go with one or two bags for shopping. We also ensure that we buy WHAT WE REALLY NEED . Since we had to carry the items, our list was optimised and would ensure WE DO NOT overstock
b. Ensured we buy locally as much as possible, which means we were buying closer to where we live . Our fuel expenses for shopping was almost nil . We either club our shopping with other items on our way back or we buy from walkable distances. The local vendor has anyway spent the fuel for transporting, we need not burn more.
c. Combine your shopping with other needs : Skyrocketing petrol prices are indeed good news for the environment . Money is the only way to peg the unsatiating hunger for wants..Keep a bag in your vehicle and combine your shopping needs if you need a specific item which is not locally available.
d.Our needs are based on locally available, seasonal products and not globally produced products that have travelled around the globe.
2. CHANGE YOUR CONSUMPTION
Some of the products that caught our attention were juice tetrapaks, shampoo sachets, biscuit and chips packets (Lays, Kurkure), noodles . From the viewpoint of waste, they were wrapped in more durable multi layer, multi material packaging which was difficult to recycle - Lays packets have an aluminum coating mixed with plastic which cannot be recycled. There was also growing concern about the nature of the food items which were carefully wrapped in these. Deadly chemicals like aspamarte, mono sodium glutamate, transfats, high fructose corn syrup found its way into multitude of common products like tomato ketchup, noodles, kurkure, lays, biscuits, tropicana juices and the list is on and on and on.. Our health is not for corporations to make money, our health is for us to lead a healthy life till the purpose of our soul is attained in this lifetime. We decided not to be addicts to this multitude chemicals that find its' way into our homes.
What was the change in lifestyle ?
a) We started cooking more wholesome food. Sprouted wheat, red rice, fresh vegetables, jaggery as substitute for sugar, became common items on our table.
b) Dosa batter was ground with organic red rice in order to ensure there is enough mineral supplement in our diet and rice was not just made of starch and the less tasty white rice.
c) Sprouted dals became more often increasing our protein intake through vegetables
e) Home made juices were made and stored in summer . Ginger-lemon-jaggery extract, fresh orange pulp which can be stored for a week, fresh moosambi pulp , goosbery-lemon-ginger extract - all these were not just fresh juices but they also provided good nutrition
f) Reduce take away packets from restaurants and darshinis .
g) Fish was bought in steel containers instead of wrapping in plastic covers which will find its' way to landfills (plastic covers mixed with stinking waste cannot be stored and hence has to be thrown)
h) Dump cleaner : When milk covers had to be dumped, the cover was rinsed . All this organic water that is used for rinsing waste, can be collected and used for watering plants . The plastic covers are then air dried before sending for recycling.
i) Use newspapers instead of plastic covers: Eco friendly packaging is important if one has to carry stuff like bananas from our hometown. We use newspapers to wrap them instead of plastic covers
j) Carrying food : Food can always be packaged in steel or reusable tiffin carrier . Take a cloth towel for wiping after eating. It reduces use of tissues which are made from virgin wood (using tissues is equivalent to cutting trees )
All this obviously had a positive effect on our food bill since the processed food were more expensive for the quantity and quality of food it provided. We were able to divert that money to more organic and healthier food.
3. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
What was the change in lifestyle ?
a) We started cooking more wholesome food. Sprouted wheat, red rice, fresh vegetables, jaggery as substitute for sugar, became common items on our table.
b) Dosa batter was ground with organic red rice in order to ensure there is enough mineral supplement in our diet and rice was not just made of starch and the less tasty white rice.
c) Sprouted dals became more often increasing our protein intake through vegetables
e) Home made juices were made and stored in summer . Ginger-lemon-jaggery extract, fresh orange pulp which can be stored for a week, fresh moosambi pulp , goosbery-lemon-ginger extract - all these were not just fresh juices but they also provided good nutrition
f) Reduce take away packets from restaurants and darshinis .
g) Fish was bought in steel containers instead of wrapping in plastic covers which will find its' way to landfills (plastic covers mixed with stinking waste cannot be stored and hence has to be thrown)
h) Dump cleaner : When milk covers had to be dumped, the cover was rinsed . All this organic water that is used for rinsing waste, can be collected and used for watering plants . The plastic covers are then air dried before sending for recycling.
i) Use newspapers instead of plastic covers: Eco friendly packaging is important if one has to carry stuff like bananas from our hometown. We use newspapers to wrap them instead of plastic covers
j) Carrying food : Food can always be packaged in steel or reusable tiffin carrier . Take a cloth towel for wiping after eating. It reduces use of tissues which are made from virgin wood (using tissues is equivalent to cutting trees )
All this obviously had a positive effect on our food bill since the processed food were more expensive for the quantity and quality of food it provided. We were able to divert that money to more organic and healthier food.
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| Plastic covers with aluminum coating inside are non recyclable. The food they carry also carry the risk of diabetes, cholestrol, BP . Then why do we eat these junk food ? |
3. GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
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| Apple on 19th May 2011 |
Finally, the apple rotted in July 2011. One wonders about the real age of this fruit and the toxic chemicals used to preserve it looking like fresh. Do we know when the fruits and vegetables we eat were plucked ?
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| Apple on Jul 2011 |
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| Compost from food waste |
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| Egg shell powder from waste -Calcium for plants |
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| Panchagavya |
This growing concern of the age of the vegetables and fruits , increased packaging and improved "shelf life in super markets" and heavy use of fossil fuel based chemicals and pesticide has driven
us to start our own kitchen garden. My garden is in its' nascent stage.
But there is one clear sign, we can convert food to food. The compost
we generate from waste is a rich resource that we can use to produce
food . Egg shell powder is a calcium supplement for the soil - we need not junk it as waste. Cow dung can be stored in the form of panchagavyam for longer duration and applied at regular intervals as organic plant promoter. These are some of the applications of waste to produce one's own food. For more success stories on growing your own food visit : http://www.facebook.com/groups/OrganicTerraceGardening/
Lessons from our ancestors:
Afterall, there is nothing new in this blog .. I remember this is what my mom and grandmother used to do when I was young . If we try to recollect our childhood in early 1980s, we can associate ourselves to a simpler way of life with no waste and a healthier living. Let us go back to what our ancestors were doing and take charge of our food and waste on our own. Large corporations do not have the right to rule this planet at the cost of our health and at the cost of a cleaner environment for posterity.
We welcome more thoughts and suggestions to lead an eco friendlier living..
