28/06/2022
One fine day I received this message in a group. I added my thoughts too.
Make your own list and repost it!
Over time, I have realized that I am taking far more from the universe than I will ever be able to give back.
The constant exercise of differentiating between needs and desire has been an eye opener.
Endeavor is to live responsibly,
endeavor is to live with conscience.
For eg:
1.Do I need to use chemicals for little plants I grow at home?
Can’t I keep soil fertile by adding organic matter and use natural pest control methods. It my not be easy initially but effective on long run
2. Do I really need to wrap that gift by buying ‘free’ gift wrapping paper?
Because that shiny/ non-biodegradable paper is going to be trashed (literally) once the gift is opened?
3. What do I do when I am at a buffet?
Do I listen to my stomach or do I fill my plate with everything available (either because it is free or because I have paid for it all)?
4. What do I do when the guy at Subway (the food chain) offers me two forks and four tissue papers when I am going to be eating alone?
Do I return one fork and three tissue papers (or all four, if I carry my own hanky) to him or I just walk away from the counter and throw away unused forks and tissue papers?
5. Just because something is ‘biodegradable’, should I use it?
Can I even avoid a paper bag or a cloth bag because a tree was chopped to make that paper and earth was subjected to atrocities to create the piece of cloth? Can I ‘reduce’ my consumption even before thinking of ‘reuse’ or ‘recycle’?
6. What happens when I go to eat Thali?
There are so many things I know I might not eat . Do I return it immediately so that it can be offered to someone else or do I let it sit on my plate and leave it untouched only to be thrown away later?
7. Do I need to cook elaborate meals when guests visit me?
Can I cook just enough so that everybody including myself can have a great time and no food is wasted (or we don’t continue to eat same food for next three days well after it has lost all its nutrients)
8. Do I need to buy things just because they are in sale and they are cheaper?
Do I need to buy them because there is ‘return policy’? I was reading a case study on how big retail conglomerates dump returned goods in the ocean and its unbelievable how our oceans are constantly being subjected to waste created because of our greed.
9 Am I respectful when I am visiting a tourist destination?
Do I take rules such as ‘keep silence’, ‘do not litter’ seriously enough?
10.” Home decors”
Do we need to buy too many things to decorate homes with cheaper and harmful materials or can we just choose a few natural or eco-friendly items? We are already living in a concrete jungle do we need to make it worse
11. Do I need to go to a restaurant which is 20 or 30 km away just for a meal?
Just because I can, should I. How about the carbon footprint I am leaving behind.
I have been asking these and such questions for a couple of years now.
What else can I ask?
How else can I live mindfully?
The Planet is choking.... make yourself count!
