Well a blogpost after two years of silence. It does not mean that I stopped working. After the pandemic I accelerated my work in Sri Lanka and started travelling for work. Anyway since it's Environmental month I wanted to share this story. A true story of my own. Hope you will like it!
Living with my own plastic waste in New Delhi, India for the last 6 years but life is never wasted!
We shifted to New Delhi as a family in July 2017. Many things were so different from our normal lifestyle in Sri Lanka. Living above ground and not touching soil every day is one big change I had to get adjusted to. How can I continue not to give our waste to the municipality? How can I make my own compost? What are the methods I can adopt as a person who had been practising a zero waste lifestyle for the last 16 years in Sri Lanka. I was thinking….can I continue my good practice or not??? So, soon after we found our new apartment, my main concern was to find out the mechanism for waste management. The girl who started working for us as our helper said “Don’t worry madam ji! Waste truck comes and we can give everything in a black bag” 100 rupees per month. Nothing more, very easy”...Oops…..no…no….no…that method is not for me. I wanted to give it a try…Then I started my mission to continue my best practices while living in a first floor apartment.
I was continuing the conscious consumerism along with the 10R method that I learned from Australia many years ago (Reject, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Replace,Recycle, Rethink, Remember, Repeat). Therefore, life was easy with options available. So, many materials were forbidden by ourselves as conscious consumers (Single use bags, straws, fizzy drink bottles, etc). “Kabadi Wala” (Recycling waste pickers) are available in Delhi so the recyclable materials are not an issue at all. Then I did some online research to find out a composting method in Delhi. Luckily there were some good people who have been making their own compost in Delhi on terraces. But, I had only a balcony. So I came up with the mud-pot composter. Made some holes in the pot and started collecting wet waste on the small balcony I had. Ok…that’s solved. Now starting the ecobricks! Oh…where can I get some plastic bottles? “Kala….how can I get some 1litre plastic bottles? Oh…madam ji, I will bring you, I have so many. Replied kala - our helper. Then I had a coconut shell spoon which I brought from Sri Lanka. So I have a long stick too. Right!!! all set to continue the zero waste lifestyle.
Next morning…when I went to see the mud composter ... .my effort was in pieces ... .a cat or somebody had dropped the pots and it's broken ... .oh…dear me! ..back to square. Ok more research for composting in balconies or terraces. Hooray!!!….I found the solution…”Sampoorna composter”. Ordered one and collected wet waste in a plastic box until I got my composter. I had to travel a very long distance to bring this composter but later on I saw how composting on terraces became very popular in Delhi and I even got another one delivered to home via Amazon.  | My composter on the first floor balcony |
Later on I found recycling options for many things like Plastics, Some Polythene materials like tetra packs and fresh milk packets (Whichever came with Recycling symbol) Glass, metal, cloths, shoes. So they all were collected and given to recyclers.
However, making ecobricks and storing them under the bed for the last 6 years was not an issue at all. The ecobrick is made in the kitchen pantry whenever we get soft polythene. Then the next step is chucking it under the bed in the storage.  | ecobricks stored under the bed |
The 5th of June is World Environment day. Many celebrate it with nature friendly activities. I searched about the theme for this year’s World Environment Day, and it made me smile when I saw the theme #Beatplasticpollution. Oooppss…it was the theme for my whole life. All of sudden I remembered our ecobricks nicely sitting under the bed. Henry, our helper who is very good at making them as his responsibility, helped me to take them out, count and weigh them. 80 ecobricks of 1 litre disposable water bottles of 23.1kg weight. Hmmmm…which means 13 bottles per year and 1 bottle per month…oh…nooo….to much….Usually I took about 2.5 months in Sri Lanka to make one ecobrick. Anyway, I know single use plastic is very common here and very difficult to avoid. So, I was making myself feel better about not throwing them away, and giving them to the municipality. No contribution for the Great Garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. Even the plastic/polythene waste we generate when we travel are trapped inside them. I will find a place to give these 80 bricks for making some structures or to be used in making roads with Tar. If all of us can manage our own single use plastic we can make #Beatplastcpollution our daily hashtag.  | Plastic tags come with new dresses |

 | These are the items I stuff in the ecobrick |
No need to wait for a World Environmental Day to make it happen. Everyday we breathe is a World Environmental Day!
Month of April – Experienced the Covid-19, feeling was “facing as it is”
Month of
May – recovered and waiting to go to Sri Lanka, but no luck as Sri Lanka closed
entry gates for us even as Sri Lankans living in India. Feeling was Disappointed,
sad but what to do? as there is nothing we could do!
Month of
June – Others celebrating World Environmental day (While I was celebrating
throughout the year). Feeling was “oh…well…time to share the work”
All past
months were so crazy and not like any other year, the Environmental day
celebrations were overwhelming!! Invitations for conducting sessions via zoom,
Teams or Google. Most were accepted but few were refused as they were
overlapping with other sessions.
So, it was
a high time for a holiday. Still could not go for long holidays due to pending
work.
Anyway, we decided
to go just out of Delhi and spend two nights. Without thinking much, we decided
to go and stay at Karma Lakelands; (https://www.karmalakelands.com/)
a place that we always wanted to experience. The place belongs to one of our
good friends who is very much eco conscious.
When we
arrived there, we were so happy about not choosing a hotel room to go and stay
as we really enjoyed the setup of our villa. I started enjoying the Nature,
riding bikes with my son Nipuna and watching birds and ants, walking, enjoying wildflowers
and night sky which we can’t do in the city) and of course reading a book while
Thushara was busy with meetings online until late night.
Next day
morning my friend Diki texted me and asked whether I can run a Nature walk to
their staff. This was an agreement between us at the time I told her we were
coming to stay in their resort. So I was not surprised by the invitation.
Since it is
like an oven during day time with 42 degrees Celsius these days, we agreed to
run it at 5.30pm. Diki came to pick me
up from our villa. Bunch of youth with nice smiles were already there. You know
all were wearing masks as it’s mandatory nowadays. So how could one know that
they had nice smiles? Of course, I could not see the smile but I saw their smiling
eyes!!
Then some
parents and kids who are residents within the property arrived, I thought that’s
all! Surprisingly so many of their staff members kept on arriving. It was a big
group but I was so happy as it’s one of the most divers groups I have ever met
to run a Nature walk to connect with Nature. Unfortunately, two sensory organs
were blocked by the mask but all took a chance to lower the mask and smell and
taste when it was the time to connect via nose and tongue.
Karma Lakelands
is full of biodiversity and we only could walk about 50-60m and already one
hour and thirty minutes was passed. Since it was getting dark by that time, we
decided to finish the walk.
It was very
interesting crowd who got actively involved with the walk, connecting with
Nature using five sensory organs by following my instructions. Next day morning
too I had a meeting with Ashwani Khurana founder of karma Lakelands and some
invitees to share some ideas for eco resort that they were developing these days.
I was happy to give some suggestions there too. It was just before we left
Karma Lakelands.
So, this is
how my relaxing holiday became a working holiday but the feeling was very
satisfied – so the final outcome was “Relaxified”
Many of our friends, members and supporters got to know that we too got infected by Covid-19. An article written by me in Sinhala medium went bit viral in Sri Lank via social media and electronic newspapers, and many people got to know about our story through that. The best part of it is, many of our friends got concerned about us soon after they read the article as they were not aware of what we went through and asking us to be careful. By that time all over and we were back to normal. Many unknown people contacted me and said it was very useful to read it and be ready for any situation. Therefore, I am sharing my experience with you all as it might be helpful for some of English speaking people. Here it is....Thank you for reading!!!
It was
Sunday, 18 th of April 2021. Early that morning our second son,
Nipuna, came to see us, and announced that he was feeling feverish! I was
alarmed, as it was the weekend that the New Delhi government announced the
second lock-down due to Covid. Then again, I thought, well, it can’t be Covid;
Nipuna does not go out much- I’m the one who usually goes out and brings home
the groceries. Anyway, I advised him to take paracetamol and to try to sleep
again. In accordance with the advice we had received from the authorities, we
decided to act as though he definitely had Covid. We gave him paracetamol for
the fever, many liquids, such as ginger/lemon tea and warm water, and healthy
food. Getting a PCR virus test was very challenging as the prebooking system
was always full. Somehow, we managed to all get our PCR tests done on the 5 th
day, the 23 rd of April. Results: Nipuna was positive for Covid, the
rest of us were negative. But my throat felt slightly sore, and I knew that I
was going to come down with Covid as well. So, I too, followed the same
instructions given by the World Health Organization and the doctors. This was
the time that Delhi had the highest number of Covid positive cases (around
28,000 per day, with a death rate of about 400 per day). We knew that even
though we needed to go to hospital, getting in to one would be a huge
challenge. Hence, we decided to look after ourselves somehow. One helpful
factor was that we had had our first jab three weeks before. So, we were
feeling positive, and kept following all the instructions faithfully. After 5
days from my first symptom, Thushara became feverish. The next day Henry, our
Indian helper, had a fever, too. Then I knew I should get myself ready to run the
house, even though I still had a fever, as there was no-one else to cook and
feed the family. At least by then Nipuna was clearly recovering, and even able
to attend online classes at school.
How I
managed three active Covid patients (Thushara, Henry and myself) seems
unbelievable when I think about it now. I would get up in the morning, wash
myself, and get ready with new cloths. I would cook some rice and Dhal curry
for breakfast and lunch. Other than this, we had bread, eggs and fruit at home.
So, I fed them whatever they wanted to eat. I started two separate charts for
Thushara and Henry, measuring their temperature and oxygen level every four
hours using the pulse oximeter. Whenever they had high fever, I did this more
frequently. We were told that if the
oxygen level went down to 93% we should contact a doctor. Luckily, their
concentrations both stayed above 96%.
While
managing patients at home, we did the following:
1 We
asked Henry to leave his quarters upstairs, and come and stay in our front
room, so that he was not alone, and we could monitor him closely.
2 I
stopped browsing social media, and put the phone into silent mode. Even before
we got Covid, we were getting so much negative news about deaths, no hospital
beds, corpses lining the roads without enough wood to cremate them, etc. I
wanted to avoid getting scared or frustrated from watching or hearing this type
of news. I asked the others to do the same. I only spoke with my parents and
eldest son (who is in university) to show them that we were all doing great,
even while having Covid. It was only a half-truth, but I never wanted to scare
my parents or son who are so far away from us.
3 When
I worked in the kitchen, I felt extremely tired, but took a lot of rest in
between, and did breathing exercises. These were very difficult, as I felt a
slight pain in the lung area when taking a deep breath. Also, I had severe
coughing. But I kept on doing breathing exercises and meditations, which helped
me to stay calm and breathe comfortably.
4 I
had no smell or taste- but I had to cook and eat. I kept on tasting and
inhaling many fragrances, even though I could not feel them. That way, I
thought, I should keep reminding my brain about these fragrances.
5 I
drank loads of herbal drinks and warm water, and ate lots of fruit in between
main meals. I also took vitamin supplements.
6 Once
only, I got a panic attack when I started thinking about what would happen if
one of us had to seek a hospital, or need oxygen. I started sweating, with
palpitations and blackout. Somehow, I managed to realize that I was panicking
unnecessarily and should not continue thinking like that. I opened the door and
went into my small front garden and started breathing deeply, and thinking
about all the good work I had done so far: planting trees, rescuing animals,
growing organic vegetables, sharing with neighbors, teaching kids about Nature,
looking after stray cats and dogs, feeding birds, etc. Whatever came into my
mind, I started giving the loving kindness and blessing to them. This is Metta
Meditation in Buddhism. It was very useful for helping me to calm myself down,
and in this way I managed the panic attack.
7 We
watched movies- with positive messages only- on Netflix, and watched musical
shows. We rarely have time to watch movies in our normal life, but we
thoroughly enjoyed them during those days.
8 I
mainly passed my day with doing breathing exercises (Pranayama Yoga),
meditation, watching Nature, watering my plants, talking to plants (I was
already doing Horticulture therapy before Covid) and the stray cat who visits
my garden, listening to songs and watching movies, and looking after others.
9 There
were very few friends we answered the phone to, or read text messages from. A
few friends who had Covid before us were very helpful, sharing advice and
keeping our morale up (None of them had three patients at home, so they
understood my crisis.)
10 Somehow, I was out of fever on day
5, and the other two, soon after that. I monitored them very closely until both
were out of the risk period (during which pneumonia was a possibility).
11 We all spent 17 days inside from the
last date of infection, which was the recommended quarantine period for us in
Delhi. Then we slowly started our normal routines. Now when we look back, it
was like a bad dream, and we’ve almost forgotten how we felt during that
period. But what I have to say is that we never got scared about the situation,
but we were very conscious and alert. At the same time, we never cursed or
hated the virus, as we knew it was another living being, and we were fully
aware that there was no medicine. We always stayed positive and lived
consciously in that moment. We did not worry about what would happen tomorrow,
or next week, or how bad it could be (except for the moment I thought about the
situation in such a way as to bring on the panic attack).
The main
lesson we learnt during the Covid-19 infection is: using our mind effectively is
the main factor in helping us to face life positively and stay healthy!
If someone wants to read the Sinhala language article here is the link https://sinhala.newswire.lk/2021/05/23/%e0%b6%9a%e0%b7%9c%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%92%e0%b6%a9%e0%b7%8a-%e0%b6%af%e0%b7%94%e0%b6%a7%e0%b7%94%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%99%e0%b6%b8%e0%b7%92-%e0%b7%80%e0%b7%90%e0%b6%bd%e0%b6%af-%e0%b6%9c%e0%b6%ad%e0%b7%8a/
ECO-V is 20 years!! Can you all
believe it? We started ECO-V on the 7th of February 2001. It was a very small
meeting with my university friends; Sujani, Lal, Harsha and some of Thushara’s
friends and my family members. We launched it officially as a new organization
and then started working as a team. The first office was at the living room of our
one-bedroom apartment in Moratuwa. I was 1 month pregnant with our first son Buhusuru,
so ECO-V was our first child officially. We started working after winning the
Rufford small grant from Whitley Fund for Nature (https://whitleyaward.org/).
All happened just because I met Edward Whitley from WFN at the 10th anniversary
celebrations of the Conservation leadership programme (https://www.conservationleadershipprogramme.org/) held at Natural History
Museum in London in April 2000! It was like yesterday when Edward came to our
table and had a chat with me during a small break while compering at the award
ceremony.
 | At the award ceremony of WFN |
 | Our first working team, Harsha,Sujani,Sudharshi,Samanmalee and Lal |
Being thankful!...
I should be very thankful to Catherine
Gotto the Manager of CLP at that time for inviting me as the Mistress of
Ceremonies to the event. If not, how could I meet Edward who suggested I should
start an organisation while having a meeting at his home the next day? Also, I
should be thankful to Cambridge 97 project team members - my dear friends
Jules, Claire, Cathy and Chris who came to Sri Lanka after winning a grant from
CLP in 1997. They were my mentors during the 3 months project around Sinharaja
rain forest and later they supported me to attend Durrell Conservation academy
in 1999 (https://training.durrell.org/).  | Meeting Claire and Jules in the UK, after 15 years of Sinharaja 97' |
 | Meeting Cathy in London during the visit in 2012 |
 | Me at Durrell in 2012 during a revisit. |
Going further back I should be in debt to my dear teacher/mentor Prof. Sarath
Kotagama for selecting me to Sinharaja 97’ project as one of the Sri Lankan
counterparts. All these people behind me were always remembered along with the
ECO-V life story. Adding more to the story I should be remembering my dear
father, Punchi Banda Weerakoon, my uncle Dr. A.T Ariyaratne and late Mr. K.D.R.N
Wijesinghe the director of National Zoological garden who gave me advice,
guidance and helped to select the honest and clear path in establishing the
organization legally. How should I not be thankful to my loving husband
Thushara for encouraging me to start the organization after Edward suggested
but me having doubts about my capacity?
Positive impact….
When I travelled through the
memories while clicking on photographs in hundreds of folders in my external
drive, I really can’t believe how much work we had done. So many projects, so many activities took place
within these 20 years. Numbers are not important to us but all stories we hear
from people who have been following us, how they have made positive behavioral
changes within themselves, individually and at family level, at working places
and in the communities are the most important to us. We never had a permanent
donor; we were depending on small grants, or some organizations who supported us
short term. We never had a proper office like other organizations, it was only
a dedicated area on a floor at our home (only twice we went out for a year but
it was not the best environment for us). The team members were a family to us.
My two kids grew up while watching our work. How we made plans for sustainable
events attending to all minor details about minimizing our carbon footprint during
such events, focusing on zero waste events or projects focusing its sustainability
and long-term positive impacts, where our waste would end up and quality of
work rather than numbers of attendees. In the early days Harsha and Lal helped
me to carry my kids when we travelled to the field to do our work even during civil
conflict in Sri Lanka. Kids were always around me when we had monthly “Thiresi”
meetings for members.  | Kids enjoying water during our Leaf Monkey project |
 | Lal carrying Nipuna during Pelican conservation work while Bandara helping Buhusuru |
Today, I see the results of bringing up two boys in a very
eco-friendly manner, when I see their leadership qualities in school or university
clubs, their thinking on current issues, and their essays they write for
university entrance applications or even for TED talks. One common comment I
get from both of them is “Mother, thank you for making us feel guilty about
what we want to do for fun!!!” Yes...it is very sarcastic comment but, I know
that means they are thinking not only twice about their acts but many times
before they want to get involved. Which is for me simply “conscious consumerism
or eco-friendly thinking” what we have been preaching over 20 years. It is the
behavioural change that we wanted to bring among individuals. Many past and
current members of ECO-V must have got that thinking but for sure I know at
least I have mentored two children where I see positive impact on Mother Nature!
Of course, I can add my husband and myself into that list of people who changed
positively via ECO-V activities. Whoever comes forward and says “I changed my
one little behavior following ECO-V’s work will be an added bonus to our list
of success stories!! This may sound like bragging about ECO-V, but to be
honest, I know there are many like that as I have heard that comment so many
times within these 20 years. We had beautiful time together learning and experiencing Nature during "Thiresi Charika" and monthly "Thiresi Meetings".
 | Volunteers and my two boys experiencing a "Environmental Meditation" session during a "Thiresi Charika"
|
 | During a monthly members meeting at our home - "Thiresi" meeting |
 | Bu and Nipu with me listening to our discussions of Nature during monthly "Thiresi" meetings |
Failures and challenges...
During these past 20 years, only
one project ended up without a sustainability that was the Bellanwila-Attidiya
sanctuary conservation work. It was due to government laws related to
conservation status and then another project on Otters had to stop soon after
we implemented as we could not secure funding. We regretted those two but all
other projects ended up with very positive outcomes. Keeping and maintaining staff
was always a challenge as we could not secure their jobs beyond the project
period since we did not have permanent funding sources. So, nobody stayed with
us beyond 3-4 years. We take it positively as we were able to train youngsters
to do work faithfully and productively and also bring the behavioral change to
themselves within the short period of work with us. Even today all my past
staff members communicate, admire our days together and tell us how much change
brought into their lives and many are still volunteering to us. Some have started their own organizations or movements. Isn't it great??
 | At our home based office, even team has to play with cats! |
 | Team meeting at home based office for Leaf monkey project team |
 | Planning team of Paapedi 2013 at our home based office
|
 | Not a professional office but of course a skillful team - Team Paapedi 2013 |
I live outside of Sri Lanka now
with my family but still ECO-V activities are taking place. Office is based at
our home in Sri Lanka on an entire dedicated floor for office. There are no big
projects currently but with activities with high positive impacts with
services. Those services are not only for humans but also for other living
beings! We don’t have huge grants but we have well-wishes who are supporting us
in small ways (personally or as organizations) but just enough for us to bring
the positive change. We still function as a voluntary organization, just like
when we started and we will be, as our aim is to let people understand money is
not everything. Just like Mother Earth giving her services to her children, we
too try to give our services back to her and her children!
Lessons learnt…
I am 20 years older than when I
started ECO-V. When I look back, I have no regrets, but a huge satisfaction for
being able to do so much voluntary work (Thanks to my husband, I never had a
need to earn to feed my children). I might have done a little bit well in the
finances side and found a big donor for ECO-V to do more work but….that was my
capacity and may be this is what I was destined to do. Therefore, I take it as
a positive karma!
Global impact…
With the experience gained
through building up ECO-V, I managed to co-found Journeys for Climate Justice
in Australia (https://www.journeysforclimatejustice.org.au/), and Edible Routes
Foundation in India (https://www.facebook.com/edibleroutesfoundation/). I enjoy
work at International level through these organisations and many networks that
we work together to bring up positive change to the world of conservation.
My interpretation….
Well for me, I was born to this
world to do this service mostly as a volunteer. May be making money is not my
destiny during this birth but the service to all living beings is what I have
to do which I am happy about. As a founder of an organization this may be a
failure. But I am not regretting as I have understood myself and anyway we have
done our best to protect Mother Nature and will be doing it with money or
without money. We used to make cloth tote bags and eco friendly greeting cards and sell them to raise funds and we still do such activities as raising funds vis such activities are very helpful for us to get developed our skills.
 | Me painting the cloth tote bags to sell and raise funds. |
ECO-V is like a beautiful river
still flowing 20 years! Sometimes splashing water, sometimes meandering, facing
boulders steadily, slowing down around deep puddles, running when
needed flow silently along the valleys. Creating beautiful water falls down the
hills and carrying and planting the seeds along its banks. Small streams keep giving
water on the way so it will not get dried. That's just enough to see ECO-V as a river. It is
there to drink water, take a bath, use for growing plants or just listen to the
sound and enjoy but never stoppable by a dam because we will flow over the dam
nourishing more lands helping more beings until it meets the great ocean. Don’t know when. Until then May you all see
it as a beautiful river and enjoy it!!
Waste is one of the main topics in the world! As an organization campaigning for sustainable Resource management and zero waste lifestyle for last 20 years, I wrote this article few years ago and modified again very recently with more details. Hope one can learn something out of this. I heard about 10R in waste Management when I was in Melbourne in 2010 and since then we at ECO-V adopted the method by modifying it in our own way. We always talk about "conscious consumerism and waste" together as waste is not a waste but it is a resource. 
Everybody knows about the 3R’s in Waste Management.
I believe that simply following the guidelines of the 3R’s is not sufficient
action to manage our global waste sustainably. I offer here a different
perspective on waste management. We must stop generating further waste in order
to get the issue down to a manageable scale. Human beings are the only living
animal on this plant who generates waste. This is a self-created problem.
Therefore, the solution must also be created by humans. I believe the only
viable solution is a “zero waste” lifestyle (or to at least achieve 99% waste
free). To enable us to lead a zero-waste lifestyle, we must follow the 10-R
method. In other words, “consuming consciously or Conscious Consumerism”. There is no such thing as “waste” unless we humans
generate or create wasteful products. Therefore, what we are managing is
“Resources”; once you manage resources wisely then there will be no waste
products left. Let us see how we can manage resources sustainably.
Follow the 10R
method to become a conscious consumer and zero waste generator!! It’s very
simple, once you get the hang of it!
1. Reject
– Always buy only what you NEED. Reject unhealthy, unsuitable, unethical goods.
Don’t buy more than what you need even if it’s cheap or on sale. This way you
are saving resources for others who need to buy and also bringing less waste
into your home. Moreover, it saves you money. Soon you will have created a list
of permanently rejected items from your life. Some of such items that I have
rejected in my life are: any kind of carbonated and sugary beverages, single
use plastic or polyethene, artificially made or processed food like instant
noodles and soup cubes, snacks, many varieties of biscuits, plastic straws, and
tobacco. Rejecting these sorts of items has also helped our family to maintain
healthy food habits, and has taught my two young sons how to eat healthier and
eliminate waste from their lives. I have also rejected the purchase of any chemical
detergents for cleaning and laundry. This way I know I am not polluting my home
environment.
2. Refuse
– Say no to plastic bags always…be brave enough to Refuse on the spot. This R
is bit more flexible than Rejecting. Depending on the occasion you might need
to take some of the items you want. For example, if you are really thirsty and
you have forgotten your reusable water bottle you may need to buy a bottles water
from a shop. Then you may buy it but the bottle will be given for recycling. Therefore,
you must be conscious about your choices.
This means you might buy or take items only when they are absolutely
needed. Some items I have refused personally are paper bags, cloth bags, any
wrappers including cardboard boxes, paper straws, milk packets, yoghurt,
ice-cream, makeup, perfumes and even take-away food, online purchases etc. So,
I will buy them only if I know how to manage the left-over waste that comes with
the item. Otherwise, I will not buy or accept them.
3. Reduce
– think twice and reduce consumerism. When you practice the above-mentioned two
“R”s you are automatically reducing loads of waste and also saving many
resources. Still, you can reduce using paper, cloth, shoes, clothing, handbags,
jewelry, perfumes. Always try to avoid using wrappers when you give a gift
item. If absolutely necessary then use a compostable paper wrapper or a
reusable wrapping like a muslin bag. Be aware that many trees are cut down to
make paper; we are losing vast amounts of forest land because of paper
production and agriculture. Use less
detergent, shampoo or soap and strive to completely eliminate all chemical
products. You have plenty of natural alternatives now. Also, and importantly,
be aware of the amount of food you consume daily. Wasted food feels like a
crime to me. We must pay respect to our farmers by avoiding food waste. Also,
we must be aware of how many resources, such as time, water, manure, and land,
went into growing our food. Food wastes in landfills create methane gasses and
are contributing to climate change. Each of us are obliged to consume a healthier,
smaller quantity of food and to purchase food that has been grown through
sustainable agricultural methods. Another resource we should treat with greater
respect is water. Be conscious about how much water you are using when you bathe.
Reducing water usage is an important step in the 10-R’s, especially as the
planet is experiencing droughts and water shortages globally. In this same
vein, we must reduce our global consumption of electricity and other sources of
energy, fuels, etc. through frugal personal energy consumption.
4. Reuse
– Use a cloth bag and reuse hundreds of times. Even paper bags or plastic bags can
be reused multiple times. Use reusable cutlery, crockery, or wrappers. When
somebody gives you, a present wrapped in wrapping paper, remove it carefully
and save for reuse later. This applies to bubble wrap, brown paper,
commercially-made wrapping paper and other packaging. Before you buy an item,
think twice about whether you can reuse it or not. Always reuse and upcycle
whenever possible. When up-cycling, you should remember to upcycle something
with no waste generated or whatever waste generated is recyclable. In the
meantime, do not up-cycle an item where the end product is going to be
waste. For example, people like to
upcycle plastic bottles (PET bottles) into growing/planting containers. When
they cut them to make a planting container, loads of micro plastics are released
into the environment and these small pieces of plastic are not recycled. Furthermore,
the upcycled plastic growing container is then filled with soil and, over the
growing period, this plastic breaks down into smaller, now contaminated pieces which
are no longer recyclable and becomes a waste product that will not break down
for thousands of years. It would have been better to return that water bottle
for recycling when not contaminated, and even better to not purchase it in the
first place. You can use other types of garden containers (even plastic pots) which
are designed for growing plants and are durable so that you get years of use
out of them before they become waste. Never
reuse plastic PET bottles for storage of food or liquid as they might be releasing
Bisphenol- A (BPA) chemical over the time. In plastics, only type 4 (LDPE) 5 (PP)
and 7(other) are meant to reuse for food and liquid.
5. Repair
– rather than simply discarding damaged bags, cloths, shoes, furniture, tools
and other utensils, seek to repair them. If something is broken, be creative and see if
there is another way to use it if it can’t be repaired. This way you will be
saving money and reducing the energy used for recycling.
6. Replace
– replace parts rather than buying new. Before you purchase anything new, always
think about whether those items are reparable or replaceable. For example, if
you buy plastic furniture, you will end up having to recycle when broken. Wooden
and metal furniture has several other options when broken such as repair, replace
reuse, and recycling.
7. Recycle
– always separate your waste and submit for recycling as almost everything, except
for a few types of polythene, plastics and hazardous wastes, is recyclable. However,
recycling is not always the best action; recycling requires a large amount of
resources like energy and water and emits pollutants into the environment. Some
areas accept recycling but don’t have the resources to actually recycle and so
these items end up in the landfill. Hence, we must consider reducing recycling
too. For example, you may feel that it is fine to use paper wrappers as they
are compostable or recyclable. But never think that way. Always be conscious about the original
resources that went into making these items, and the resources that will be
required to recycle them. If you use more recyclable items, and find yourself
with large amounts of recycling, that means you are wasting natural resources.
8. Rethink
– You must think over and over again about how much you are consuming. Rethink your
choices and choose Nature-friendly innovations. Be mindful about all positive
action by practicing the above “R”s. Even though you may avoid many wastes
coming into your home, you may still have some items that you can’t prevent from
entering your life or home. So, the best solution to Rethink is having your own
ECOBRICK. It’s the best solution you have at the moment to go towards a
zero-waste lifestyle. I will give you one example. As I said, I have rejected
buying unwanted items, but occasionally I buy a dress. The dress has a price
tag, brand tag and sometimes many plastic labels. So, when I purchase my cotton
dress all these tags are coming along with it. I cannot reject them and drop them
at the shop. It would be a very extreme act too and I would lose the
opportunity of exchanging it later if there is an issue. Even if I were able to
leave the tags at the shop, they will be thrown into a waste bin at the shop. Therefore, the end result is trash going into
a landfill (nobody recycles such tiny tags). Trash often ends up in the ocean where
it is responsible for killing many ocean creatures and ultimately ends up in
our bodies where it can cause hormonal imbalances and cancers. What I believe
is, if I purchase an item whatever labels, tags coming along with that product
is my responsibility. So, I have decided that the best option is to bring the
dress home with its tags, remove them carefully and collect all the tiny pieces
and insert them into an ECOBRICK. By taking this small action you keep in mind
all living beings, and rethink your own waste generation.
9. Remember
– to consume consciously, remember to take your own reusable bag, refillable water
bottle, and reusable cutlery set when you go away from home. Always remember to
keep extra bags or containers with you and in your vehicle, and remember to tell
others of your good actions as inspiration for how they too can become more
eco-friendly. By following the 10R’s and telling others about them, you will
create many positive ripples in society. Remember to walk and talk your beliefs.
If you forget today, be sure to remember right away and take action Now. We may
not have time tomorrow.”
10. Repeat
– repeat all above actions every day in your life. Make it a habit like breathing
in and breathing out. Make the 10R’s a beautiful song that you sing every day!
Healthy consumerism, Healthy life and Healthy Planet with no waste!!!! The
Planet will thank you by healing and thriving. For truly, we cannot thrive if
the planet dies. This, then, should be our walking meditation from the time our
eyes open until we close them at night: If not me, then who? If not now, when?
Concept
adopted and modified by Kanchana Weerakoon
Founder
President of Eco Friendly Volunteers (ECO-V)
www.eco-v.org
kanchanawr@gmail.com
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