One of my friends forwarded me the link to this website http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html. I really liked the site, Annie Leonard makes a pretty powerful presentation. I would strongly recommend visiting this site if you have not already.
This presentation certainly got me thinking. Is there something in that presentation that I did not know already? Not really. I might not have known the finer details, but I certainly knew the overall picture. Have I done anything about it except for occasionally feeling guilty about not doing anything? Not really again.
Why? Am I too lazy? Probably yes. But I think the most important reason is that subconsciously I feel that it would take a huge effort to do something. Somehow I get into this mental framework where I convince myself that the only sensible thing to tackle the problem is to do something grand -- like gather people and organize rallies to raise awareness. Or something similar. Since I can easily convince myself that I do not have the time or energy to organize rallies now, I conveniently wait for the guilt feeling to subside and just get back to doing nothing.
While raising awareness a la Mahatma Gandhi would certainly help, is this the only solution? I am sure that this is not true, this is just a way to deceive myself into not doing anything. Can we do something in our day-to-day life (without any special or extra effort) that would help reduce this ruthless abuse of Mother Nature? I decided to come up with some things that can be done in our normal routine life with minimal effort. Here is a list of actions that I came up with in no time.
1. Switch off unused lights, computer monitors, any other electrical gadgets.
2. Use a mug of water while brushing teeth/shaving instead of just running the water off the tap.
3. Use own cups/plates in office instead of using disposable plates/cups.
4. If disposable cups need to be used (say while going to picnics), use paper ones instead of plastic.
5. Take own cloth bags while going for shopping instead of relying on plastic bags from the shop.
7. Use refills for Pens and use till the ink has dried up completely. Promise to use only one pen, pencil a year by using refills.
8. Recycle paper. Avoid unnecessary print outs. Make a scrap book out of discarded one-sided printouts instead of using a new notebook.
9. Walk instead of riding a car or a motorbike. Cycle if the distance is not walkable. Use public transport if cycling is not possible.
10. Plant at least one tree (and take care of it) a year.
I am sure many more items can be added to this list, but this is what I came up in about 15 minutes. I already follow most of the items in this list, but then this list is just a starting point. Well, I do agree that might be item 9 needs some resolve. But then, you get the feeling that you are doing something for Mother Nature, don't you? That you might save some $$ and get healthier in the process is an extra bonus.
As I re-read this list, I am convinced that I should add one more item.
11. Try and convince as many people to follow these ten points as possible.
This item might be the most important of them all. This would not only enable me a sense of satisfaction that I am doing something for the cause, it will also ensure that I follow all the 10 rules myself as I cannot preach what I do not practice :)
