Going Green – II

This harkens back to my childhood – or childhood experiences of many millennials…

“Going Green” was very much a part of going about in our daily lives. A typical morning would start with getting out of the bed, brushing teeth, etc, and then following grandpa in the garden to pluck fresh flowers. In the meantime, freshly boiled milk and Bournvita would be sitting on the table waiting for “taller, stronger, smarter” me. The milk would be delivered by the milkman in canisters made of steel or aluminum that his assistant (or himself) would lug on a bicycle or later, a motorbike.

Busy morning in our household incorporated visit(s) by produce seller who would carry fresh vegetables and sprouts to the doorstep, and we could sift through the produce, haggle for prices and ask for a certain specific vegetable for the next day or for a specific day. The vegetables thus bought, would find a home in a thin, moist cloth after being sorted and cleaned.  The travel from the sellers’ wooden cart or basket into a wet cloth ensured fresh produce at hand. Cooking was also an elaborate green process – from mindful cooking to using the stems and discarded parts of the vegetable for composting.

Shopping trips to the market or general stores invariably meant carrying a cloth bag. I recall my parents and grandparents stuffing one cloth bag with several others on the way to the market so that those multiple bags could hold our shopping spree (technically, all items on the list). Local food sellers wrapped the foodstuff in newspapers and tied it up with cotton string from a spool dangling at the cashier’s desk. Orally calculated prices and total amounts were transacted without electronic ink slips and the records were paperless (in rare cases, on the backside of a used sheet of paper)! 😉 Liquids such as my favorite sweet “Gulabjamun” had the steel tiffin as its carrier. This practice was however quickly phased out with pre-packed plastic containers.

This brief review was to look back at the “green” seeds sown in my childhood memories. As I started managing my own stuff and making small decisions such as my waste management, carrying out the chores and so on, it dawned upon me how influential some of these memories have been! To this day, I save loose rubber bands to tie half-used food packets, etc. Or, naturally sort of compostable material as I cook, and look for a compost pit/bin to the extent of feeling upset if one is not set up in the apartment complex. My adaptation for moist wet cloth for storing vegetables is bees-wax paper (It is actually a thin cloth). The central idea is the same – thin cloth, made to keep food long-lasting.

Since a month into conscious green efforts for the household, I also realized going green is not an individual endeavor. For instance, if the garbage is not getting segregated in my absence, the whole ordeal of setting up dedicated bins for each type of waste goes to waste! If one member is striving to phase out single-use plastic bags, other member walking in with a month’s grocery in plastic bags defeats the whole purpose! To make the long story short, going green is a team effort. And in addition to the mindful case for the environment, we are nourishing ourselves with a new-found team purpose.

D.

“Thinking spot” overlooking the greens around