In recent times, Green and Sustainability have become corporate buzzwords. Organizations take great pride and interest in aligning to such strategies. But, I often think Green and Sustainability have to become a philosophy that we once again must adopt to.
I say once again, because in earlier times people led simple lives where environment conservation was part of the lifestyle.
When I was a young child, my grandparents encouraged us to write on black slates and practice the newly learnt alphabets and numbers. When I started going to school I saw the other children write on notebooks. I did not like writing on slate since I thought it was unfashionable. Today we are told to save paper - this in turn would help in saving the trees. I realize how effective slates were in keeping the environment green.
Milk was delivered in glass bottles and cloth or jute bags were used to carry the items purchased from the market. Today, even a little bit of effort on our part could help in saving tons of plastic usage. And yet most of us do not bother to make that additional effort.
In earlier times, Banana leaves were used to lay a good meal. Marriages where hundreds of people would eat were served on well stitched leaf plates. However, today eating out of leaf plates would be considered de'classe; so what if it helps to save a lot of water - who cares ?
Clothes, Textbooks used by the elder siblings were passed down to the younger ones. Unused papers from notebooks were stitched to make good rough working notebooks. This was considered a sign of prudence and not lack of money. People mainly used public transport. Taxis, autos were rarely used and only the very rich indulged in cars. Today having a car is considered a necessity. The roads are full of traffic, Fuel prices are continuously increasing and the environment is polluted. To counter that, everybody is trying to promote car pooling!!
In earlier times, Banana leaves were used to lay a good meal. Marriages where hundreds of people would eat were served on well stitched leaf plates. However, today eating out of leaf plates would be considered de'classe; so what if it helps to save a lot of water - who cares ?
Clothes, Textbooks used by the elder siblings were passed down to the younger ones. Unused papers from notebooks were stitched to make good rough working notebooks. This was considered a sign of prudence and not lack of money. People mainly used public transport. Taxis, autos were rarely used and only the very rich indulged in cars. Today having a car is considered a necessity. The roads are full of traffic, Fuel prices are continuously increasing and the environment is polluted. To counter that, everybody is trying to promote car pooling!!
Earlier, Indians believed in simple living and high thinking. This meant minimalistic living, careful utilization of resources, preserving things for the long term along. We believed in spending on what was really important.
In today's times, we believe in having an entire wardrobe of branded clothes, shoes, watches. We get quickly tired of using the same things and don't believe in using any of them for the long term. We buy things which help in establishing our status symbol. And to meet our growing needs(or is it greed ?) we even take loans.
And then we champion for green and sustainability...
Perhaps our forefathers were far ahead of us in terms of sustainability and also sensibility!!
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