green family

I have thought long about the life then and now. Women pursuing careers seriously have a direct bearing on waste generation!They are aware and hence give a premium for quality.They are short of time, so convenience is paramount.They have more disposable income, so take away foods,ready to eat food stuffs are part of her life.

Let us take one at a time.

Being concerned with quality is right for the family for wrong for the environment. Yes, they opt for more off the shelf products which are packaged. Let us take some examples. Wheat used to be taken to the mill in jute bags and ground atta would be brought back in huge containers or strong cloth bags. They would be stored in huge dubbas to last for a month. Now atta is bought in one kilo packets.They come in polythene packets.They are quite small and cannot be recycled for any other purpose, so end up in the dustbin.Invariably it is also branded which means that the stuff is transported for long distances from their factory site and adds to fuel costs and global warming. Family health is important and the women perceive branded food products to adhere to hygiene standards better than the ones in the local kirana shops.

We have seen in this example as we started on quality, we have come to the idea that time is in short supply for her and also she can pay more for quality and its convenience and labour saving time.All the three are intertwined.

Another important aspect is the hectic travel lifestyles that we have come to adopt. Travel puts a heavy strain on the environment. OF course the most obvious is the fuel cost of travel, be it bus, train, car or plane. Longer travel in earlier days meant packing food for the family to last the entire two or three days. Nowadays since ready to eat foods are available and they are also appear quite hygenic, it is natural that generally people have preferred to buy them than carry inconvenient huge food baskets. The other day I was waiting in a station to receive a friend. I saw the tap which had a label drinking water being used by the vendors and coolies and not by a single traveller. All of them had packaged water bottles with them. Water bottles have contributed singly to the maximum damage to environment, but they are more hygienic and convenient. All other food items are use and throw, be it chips or fruit juices or soft drinks or tea cups. We hated the tea glasses and now left with throwaway cups!

Take idli batter for one, the greatest invention of mankind to help the working woman in chennai! The plastic bag cannot be used in the house for any other purpose and it goes directly into the waster paper basket.

See I am now on a guilt trip.I am beginning to feel quite bad for patronising convenience foods, hygienic foods and labour saving items in the grocery list.

Is it okay to balance and plant a tree every month?