ZEROWASTE MINIMALIST MOM

 LIFE FOR THE FAMILY IN THE GREAT DEPRESSION The average American family lived by the Depression-era motto: “ Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.” They kept kitchen gardens, patched worn-out clothes and passed on trips to the movies as they privately struggled to retain ownership of a home or automobile. Women’s magazines and radio shows taught Depression-era homemakers how to stretch their food budget with casseroles and one-pot meals. Favorites included chili, macaroni and cheese, soups, and chipped beef on toast. Potlucks, often organized by churches, became a popular way to share food and a cheap form of social entertainment. Many families strived for self-sufficiency by keeping small kitchen gardens with vegetables and herbs. Some towns and cities allowed for the conversion of vacant lots to community “thrift gardens” where residents could grow food. Before the Depression, going to the movie theater was a major pastime. Fewer Americans could afford this luxury after the

COLD TURKEY.  That phrase sends shivers down my spine. It brings vivid memories of my dad's last days in hospital, thrashing and hallucinating in the grip of terminal symptoms of liver cirrhosis.  For me, my addiction to SHOPPING, especially online shopping, was my placebo. My fix, as they call it. And although it doesnt seem as bad as drugs, daru and dua, as I like to call the three major vices we humans fall prey to😎, it does suck the life out of your bank balance and makes you a hopeless hoarder.  And then, one day, I chanced upon this group called Dariya Dil Dukaan that offered me and others like myself, a challenge.  The NO SHOPPING CHALLENGE. Going cold turkey for a month.  30 days without SHOPPING. Easy peasy, I thought. By then, I had reached the level of buying thrift store items too. You know how easy it is to let bargains tempt you! We get super excited when we see a 50% off or a BUY ONE GET ONE FREE.  Well, I had to muster courage to say NO to all those baits if I was

PLASTIC-FREE GOA I received an email, two days after my Sunday article ‘Countering the Plague of Plastic’ was published, that began thus: "What are today's youth of Saligao doing?"  It went on to invite me to the plastic-free drive that was going to be sponsored by the Village Panchayat, Ayurvedic Natural Health Centre (ANHC), and the Adarsh Yuvak Sangh (AYS) of Saligao village. The drive was aimed at cleaning the village of as much plastic garbage as they could in approximately four hours. The date: 26 January 2012-Republic Day! The time: 9 am. The venue: Panchayat Ghar. And so, at 8.30 am, my family and I got into our trusty van and drove to the village that my husband grew up in. The volunteers had already assembled at Panchayat Ghar and were in high spirits, adorned with black and white T-shirts sponsored by the AYS. I was rather disappointed to see a smaller group instead of the 150-odd volunteers I was told to expect. Saligaokars either slept on their national holid

 Almost everyday, since poll talks started heating up in the media, we have heard people single out garbage as the number one problem that needs concrete promises. If a politician’s manifesto doesn’t have garbage control as its priority, don’t vote for him/her.  But does the problem really begin with the politicians or the people? Let’s not point fingers but be the change we want to see in the world around us. And our home is primarily our world. In the home, we generate different types of garbage. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, it is said. And one man’s waste is another man’s wealth! Waste can be chiefly segregated into two major categories: Bio-degradable and Non bio-degradable.  Bio-degradable wealth: Visualize a forest and you will realize that when the trees shed their leaves, they fall to the ground and disintegrate. As the wind blows, these rotting leaves get covered with a thin layer of soil and there you have it- COMPOST! Whenever I peel a potato or carrot, skin onion

 Needed: 1 empty water bottle (1 litre) Unwanted trash, like wrappers, sachets, packaging from the market, etc. A will to persevere  All you have to do is collect and fill the bottle with clean and dry non-biodegradable plastic waste generated in your home by way of packaging. Fit it all in nice and tight so that it feels like a brick. There should be no air pockets. It should take an average home about two weeks or so to fill one such bottle. Caution: Do not put any soiled or smelly plastic inside. If you want to add milk packs, please wash and dry them first. Even water should not enter the bottle.  Tip: Keep it in a handy place closest to the spot where you are likely to unpack any thing you buy. (We keep a plastic bag near the fridge and when it’s full, we empty the contents into the bottle.) Benefit: This concept, if it catches on, will help contain litter to a great extent.  I use water bottles because they are too brittle for recycling. If you need a demo and a bottle to use, p

  Ever since the ‘ecobug’ has bitten me, I have trying to get my garbage down to ground zero. Believe me, when I first started out, I was embarrassed at the amount generated just by our one home. Its no wonder then that the entire countryside is littered with millions of little potties, bearing testimony to the fact that every home across our beloved state has its own sorry tale to tell. I looked at my dustbin a couple of days back and felt red-faced once again. Even with my most sincere efforts at bringing the level below the danger mark, I find that I still have a long way to go.  Benaulim’s garbage guru , environmentalist Clinton Vaz wrote some time ago about his dream of a zero-waste Goa. He said, “My aim is to establish a low-cost, low-tech and sustainable waste management system that looks nice, doesn't cause problems and runs on its own. We can all do this with individual or community composting units and a recycling bin system that pays for itself when sorted out in local