Has anyone noticed lately winters don't feel like winters here? Two years ago, when I moved to Edmonton, I remember it being brrrr...frrr...eezing.. I remember one of the days in November, when I was returning from work and someone announced it was -26! Take that, tropical girl!
This year, the temperatures have barely gone down beyond -10. I am not gonna lie and say that I miss the snow (and the sludge and the icy roads and the blizzards) but overall, I do understand this is actually not really good in the bigger scheme of things - for us, the flora and the fauna.
Even though scientists are saying it's related to the El Nino, I guess we can't ignore the effect of climate change. Whoever says
global warming is not real, get real guys. It’s happening right now. You
can look at the weather pattern of any country you have lived in. Even if you have lived there for a short amount of time, let's say 5 years, you'll still notice a change. Now look harder, climate change sceptics....do you see it? Do you, do you?
I grew up in India and rarely heard of natural disasters.
Until the past few years, that is. They’ve been occurring with much more
regularity. By now, you would've guessed I am on the climate change bandwagon. Not cos it's trendy but because it's real. And because even if I can't make a huge difference, I can do something in my power to reverse or at least halt it.
If
each and every one of us doesn’t put in some efforts, we
humans are going to die a painful death. I’m not sure it's going to be slow though. Looks like in the past few years, the Earth has warmed up at an alarming rate. The 7 billion of us, I mean only the humans, not the flora and fauna, have been going crazy with our emissions.
It really saddens me because as you know, the Earth is a very, very special
planet. I mean, in our knowledge of science, up till now, we haven’t really been
able to find a single other planet where we have this large variety and
diversity of creatures, majestic natural features-from canyons to mountains (ok
agreed that other planets have craters and things like that but I can’t really go there to live, now can I? I’d rather take care of what I have here on the Earth) and most
importantly, air, water and soil to sustain us. I consider that a miracle!!
Think about it – what were the chances that all of these components would come
together in that ancient broth and create life? Not just one species but millions of them.
Take away even one component-let’s say the soil. Can we live? No. How would we
grow food? How would we survive? Gosh, thinking about all this makes me feel
very lucky and special to have inherited this special place called Earth. I hope
you think the same. So for me, it’s scary to think that with all the natural
disasters we’ve been having, the Earth and its inhabitants could be wiped
out!!!!
Again, by the same logic, I can’t expect natural disasters
not to occur. The question is: what can I do? I could take steps to reduce my
footprint on the Earth. Logic dictates that less wasteàmore treesà less
soil erosionàlesser possibility of
natural disasters. So you can’t eliminate disasters or our wants and needs
completely, but I guess there has to be a balance somewhere. I’ve compiled a
list of things that I do – my mantra is waste not, want only when needed. So
using things responsibly, reducing, reusing and recycling; it’s not always possible
but I try. I do fail sometimes but hey, I’d rather continue my efforts than
not try at all. In the end, it’s all about balance. Who would know this better
than a Libran ;-)? Without much ado, here is my little list.
1)
I bike/walk to work. Even on the days that I
can’t do either of these cos you know, temperatures in this part of the world
sometimes fall to minus frickin’ 40, I take public transport.
2)
I always switch off my wireless mouse when I leave office. That’ll ensure the batteries work longer. The aim
is to have a wired keyboard and mouse someday but this is what I inherited and
I guess I’ll use it until it runs into the ground.
3)
I try not to print things; I’d rather access
them online. I save trees and reduce visual clutter on my desk. Man,
that’s a big distraction! If I do have to print though (there are times when
you gotta do it), then I try to print double-sided and black and white.
4)
As for books and other printed material, I
either borrow things from the library, or get them from thrift/op-shops. I also
read online, like a lot.
5)
I try not to waste food. Food waste (or waste of
any sort) is my pet peeve. I could do tons and tons of blog posts on how I
minimize wastage. I will someday detail how I do this but for the moment, just scour the world of the internet.
6)
I even try to use scraps. It has been proven
that veggie and fruit peels have a lot of nutrition so I love to find ways to
use them somehow. My tarbooz ke chhilke ki sabzi (dish made from watermelon
peels) is uber famous. Will post a how-to someday. Google can help you in transforming peels, rinds and leftovers into edible stuff.
7)
I don’t mean to be preachy but I am a vegetarian
and I swear, it’s not hard. Well, you see, I was born into a vegetarian family so in part, it did come naturally. Now, with latest research showing that being a vegetarian
is kinder and gentler on our planet, I am kinda, slightly proud I am one. I am not discouraging you to eat meat but maybe you could eat less of it. And btw, being a vegetarian doesn’t mean eating tofu and kale
for the rest of your life, so you know. Google, people Google.
8)
I try and DIY a lot of products – cleaning,
skincare etc. and believe you me, I am super lazy. So if I can do it, you can
too. They say you should avoid toxic people but sometimes you can’t. At least
you can avoid toxic products..lol!
9)
I try and avoid packaging as much as possible. I
try to carry re-usable shopping bags while grocery shopping and avoid bags
altogether if I have a small item that could probably fit into my handbag.
Think a rolled-up belt or a pair of earrings or undies etc. You get the idea,
right?
10)
And then I go home and use
some-of-those-rarely-asked-for plastic bags like no one’s business. One bag
goes into lining the trash can. Of course, I make sure that’s super full before
I throw it away. The others get used to carry around stuff, especially if I
need to carry leaky things in my bag but never, ever do they get just thrown.
11)
I’ve been looking at composting but haven’t
figured out a suitable composting system yet. I will get there soon, promise.
12)
From not being able to grow anything-yes I have
a notorious brown thumb, to being able to ensure that at least 2 plants in my
home are surviving, I have come a long way :-). My new mission is to plant as many
plants as I can. Well, apart from being nice to look at, they give off oxygen, you know that stupid invisible thing that's essential for living.
13)
If I want something, I better have a need for
it. Over the years, I’ve become better at living with less. My closet is still
crowded but it doesn’t overflow like a few years ago and I use at least 80% of
it. (The 20% is emotional-I promise I will make use of it someday). Usually, I’ll just use something until it burns to the ground. And I do have
pretty things at home, but only to the extent that I can manage. Gawd! I don’t
have to clean that frequently and that alone makes me feel so much better.
14)
I am human and I do make impulse purchases, not
as much as I used to but still. And so if I find things that I don’t have a use
for, I may either donate them or give to friends and family, if they need it.
Re-gifting is fine if done properly. Make sure you know the re-gifting etiquette. And so you know, I am fine when someone re-gifts things to me. I completely understand, provided they follow the etiquette. Plus, I am ok swapping clothes with my cousins and friends.
15)
Most of the times, I’ve just learnt to live with
less. I don’t need 10 eye-shadows, I can have 3. Or while making chai, I don’t
need to put 2 teabags for the two of us. I can use one and the chai still turns
out good. And trust me, no Indian worth his/her salt would skimp on the taste
of their masala chai.
16)
Re-using things feels awesome. I usually save
pump bottles or containers to refill with products that I DIY. One product I am
sure I will never DIY is sunscreen. And that’s ok. (I can write a separate blog
post on that).
So these are just some of the things I do. And I am sure
there may be some things I haven’t listed but I do. What are some of the
things that you do to make our Earth better and save a few bucks? Please share.
I’m sure I could use a few more tips to be greener.
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