Suddenly from moving up step by step in conservation, I seem to have slid back to the base and am very upset with myself.
My children had started cycling to school in the last term of the previous academic year. I was using that time to walk with them, and though they would be way ahead, beyond my sight, still it served two purposes - of conserving petrol and getting my exercise. But this term, their school has shifted and the roads that lead to the school are congested with traffic. Not feeling confident about riding along that path with heavy school bags, we are again picking up and dropping them by car.
I had been composting at home, managing it on my own with some help from the maid when I had one, and then the children. Dumping the kitchen waste in the composting pot is the easier part; sorting them once they are done, more time and labour intensive. Still, for a year I plodded on. Then, there was good news as one of my neighbours initiated a common effort at composting and I was relieved to add my kitchen waste there. I had been using the garden pots for composting, and they were used now to house some more plants. But suddenly last month, that common initiative was stopped and I am without my own devices to compost. Feeling a bit lost, though I know the solution is just one shopping trip away...
What has bogged me down further is the acquisition of an RO water purifier. Having resisted it all these years, I had to give in reluctantly. And now, drinking water has become a joke at home. Whenever my husband and I hear the purifier working, we turn to look at the outlet pipe, crudely put into a collecting vessel that is woefully insufficient to meet the waste water needs! I am scared to drink water now!!!
Yes, there is a solution to every problem and we will find one. But this makes me wonder about all those who throw the kitchen waste away, and let the waste water go down the drain without recycling it. How are we going to sustain? Is it all about our own health and comfort? What about that of mother earth?
Much of these problems can be dealt with at the individual level, though some of it may work better with community participation. Take the first step and walk alone till others join along...
My children had started cycling to school in the last term of the previous academic year. I was using that time to walk with them, and though they would be way ahead, beyond my sight, still it served two purposes - of conserving petrol and getting my exercise. But this term, their school has shifted and the roads that lead to the school are congested with traffic. Not feeling confident about riding along that path with heavy school bags, we are again picking up and dropping them by car.
I had been composting at home, managing it on my own with some help from the maid when I had one, and then the children. Dumping the kitchen waste in the composting pot is the easier part; sorting them once they are done, more time and labour intensive. Still, for a year I plodded on. Then, there was good news as one of my neighbours initiated a common effort at composting and I was relieved to add my kitchen waste there. I had been using the garden pots for composting, and they were used now to house some more plants. But suddenly last month, that common initiative was stopped and I am without my own devices to compost. Feeling a bit lost, though I know the solution is just one shopping trip away...
What has bogged me down further is the acquisition of an RO water purifier. Having resisted it all these years, I had to give in reluctantly. And now, drinking water has become a joke at home. Whenever my husband and I hear the purifier working, we turn to look at the outlet pipe, crudely put into a collecting vessel that is woefully insufficient to meet the waste water needs! I am scared to drink water now!!!
Yes, there is a solution to every problem and we will find one. But this makes me wonder about all those who throw the kitchen waste away, and let the waste water go down the drain without recycling it. How are we going to sustain? Is it all about our own health and comfort? What about that of mother earth?
Much of these problems can be dealt with at the individual level, though some of it may work better with community participation. Take the first step and walk alone till others join along...
