Blokesblogin

Litter-free Zone
This Deepavali, I heard the story of the 100th monkey. My Japanese-American friend, told me about how it has been studied that when a 100 monkeys learn a skill- be it combing with a comb or peeling a fruit, this skill is learned by the entire community of monkeys. How it spreads and what is the special significance of 100 is not known. Anyways, she urged me to spread my idea of a "litter-free lunch" to 99 others, reserving myself as the 100th!

So there. The idea is very simple actually. It is about forethought and a wee bit of planning that can make a mega difference to our planet. When we have lunches and dinners together, a lot of items such as disposable plates, forks, spoons, paper napkins etc. are used and thrown away. The bigger the party, greater the trash. The simplest idea is for every invitee to any party (except for traditional Indian ones where you are assured of being served on a leaf or on reusable metal or china plate) to have a plate, spoon, cup and cloth napkin in a bag (like a party kit) handy, so that we can reuse this resource over and over again, leaving behind no trash. In Scandinavian countries, they have community lunches served on weekends and every person brings their own plate and tableware and take back their soiled plates home and clean them. And the countries continue to keep green.

We have a " plate network"- be it hosting a party for teachers on Teachers appreciation day" at school or a Diwali party with friends, a few friends loan 20-25 plates for the occasion and take them back. It is upto the host and his/her capacity to return them washed or unwashed. America is facing one of the greatest challenges of diminishing landfill space. It is predicted that in 20 years, there will be no more land available for landfills. My recent trips to India have also been worrisome when I find more and more people opting for disposable plates and tableware when they can easily "hire" plates or serve on leaf (dhonna or banana).

The amount of solid waste generated by our kind (the intelligent human variety) is shocking to say the least. This same idea can be expanded into other realms of kids' lunches, "take-outs", left-overs from restaurants (Tupperware came out with these containers that store flat in your handbag and u twist them open into boxes!), buying excessively packaged goods- all make up for generating less trash.

Christmas is around the corner and tonnes of wrapping paper will fill the landfills. A brown-paper grocery bag-cut out and colored by the kids (or the kid-in-us) can make great wrapping paper. Those reusable gift bags that we received through the year can be reused and passed on. A message on the bag saying "Pass it on" can be added to make it a sign of pride. Palmyra-leaf bags made by women in Southern Tamil Nadu (Ramanathapuram/Madurai) can be used as gift bags. These women have traditionally made "fans" and sell them for a penny. Getting them to make bags and paying them more will ensure a better economy for them. Last year, I had bought beautiful boxes woven by them as Christmas gifts.

Check to see how much of the "gift" you buy has plastic in it. Opt for biodegradable materials for self and others.

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