Thursday, April 10, 2008

Simple things you can do for a better world.

1. Waste less food.
2. When not necessary, do not leave the TV, tubelights, fans and ACs on. Or any electrical appliances.
3. Try eating with the whole family together. That helps you save energy - the food does not need to be re-heated over and over again, and brings you close.
4. Where not necessary, do not buy wood. Alternatively, stop complaining about deforestation and lack of greenery. That greenery is in your drawing room, as a sofa.
5. Use the old fashioned bucket and mug instead of the shower. It really really saves water.
6. Pearls are the cancerous tumours of the oyster. To get you those pearls, the creators of pearls induce this painful foreign element in the oyster and then wait for the growth to develop. You don't want someone to wear your tumours as jewelry. Or maybe you do.
7. To make a silk hanky, hundreds of silk worm larvae are boiled alive. Imagine getting up from sleep one day and dying of heat, wondering all the time, "what just happened?" . When you wear that silk, you are in effect wearing a few thousand corpses. Happy Glittering.
8. Look for cosmetic products that are not tested on animals. Testing involves pouring shampoo inside the eyes of a rabbit them to see whether the shampoo is corrosive. Actually, that is the least gory experiment.
9. Solar heating and rain water harvesting work. Really.
10. When you see someone obviously in need of help, stop and help.
11. Have fewer children, and inspire others to do the same.
12. Speak in your mother tongue. Vernaculars are dying around the world.
13. Get out of your house when there is a protest march for something that is obviously unfair. Make that voice heard before it is stifled for good.
14. VOTE.
15. Generate less waste. Most appliances are good for a lot more than they are currently used for. And second hand things are not always bad. The companies do not want you to believe that, but its true.
16. Try to not litter a public place. You are a bad example for everyone.
17. A small car is good if you are traveling alone. Most days, we travel alone to work. We do not need the boot on mostdays. What we need, is a small car, ideally a 2 seater, or a car pool. Smaller cars mean smaller jams on the road, less fuel guzzling, and honestly, as a civilisation, we just cannot afford the Big Car = Big Ego equation any more.
18. If you have plants, you could put your bio-degradable waste in them. Fruit peels, raw vegetable parts you don't use, anything..

19 comments:

soulbrush said...

thanks so much for visiting my blog and your comment!

Jon said...

one more for your list... show compassion... cricket

గిరి Giri said...

నిధి, నువ్వు వ్రాసినవి చాలా బావున్నాయి, ఆచరించదగ్గవి కూడా..

human being said...

Thanks a lot for reminding us... we need to be reminded every now and then of these simple but very very important facts...

Think the one Hopper added is a pre-requisite to all of these... when we have compassion, we care... and when we care, we:
1. waste less food. 2.......

Thanks for your always encouraging comments.
Love the way you care for the world.
Namaste!

Id it is said...

Don't you sometimes wonder why these things are not done despite them being termed 'simple'. I have started questioning their simplicity now since I find they are seldom followed especially in my part of the world.
A though provoking compilation.

Varun said...

Saw myself on your blogroll.. Shukriya.. nice thoughts here.. hope some of them get converted into action by some of those who visit your blog.

dharmabum said...

whoa! that stuff against silk and pearl come is hard hitting! not that i use either - to me, the very concept of jewellery is a little strange, and painful - it represents human greed, the inherent urge in humans to stock up, more than what is really needed.

some of the things you've mentioned and easily doable - like not wasting food, not using the shower. i have fought with friends on these counts - they think i am obsessed, but well, so be it :)

less waste, to me, is one of the most critical things, specially if we are living in a metro. come to think of it, the very idea of 'waste' is generated by man - there is no waste in nature, is there?

Ye manzilen !! said...

What part of Bombay you live in? I want to be your neighbour...
:)

Shimogait said...

Totally agree....

The Phosgene Kid said...

Can;t afford silk or pearls anyway, so the oysters and worms are safe from me! Good advice about not wasting resources. I think we are all sending our planet to an early end.

How do we know said...

Hi Forever Young: Your blog is a pleasure to visit.

Hi hopper: The "Show compassion" part - agree. What's with Cricket?

Hi Giri: i cannot read Telugu, and you know that.

Hi Human Being: :-)

Hi id it is: Well, they ARE simple. If they are not done, it is just plain unfortunate. But thankfully, now i see a lot less littering of tourist places. Also, when you start picking up the litter, esp. on a hill station, people just stare at you for a while before sheepishly stopping their own littering.

How do we know said...

Hi Varun: The pleasure is mine. And Amen!!

Hi Dharma: "the very idea of 'waste' is generated by man - there is no waste in nature, is there?" - So true!!!

HI ye manzilen: I am assuming thats a compliment, so thank you!

hi Shimogait: :-) Thanks.

Hi Phosgene: Yep, True again! CAM!

Pixie said...

Awesome and very hard-hitting!
I guess we all need these wake up calls sometimes...
I didn't know about the rabbit-eye testing thingy! Ouch!
Super-post...

A Arora said...

I loved this post..keep it up..:)

ThoughtSafari said...

Thanks for visiting my blog... you are all encouragement for my efforts :)

Loved this post.. the problem with our world today is that everybody thinks that its for someone else to solve the world's problems... and so no one ever gets around to doing anything...

EXSENO said...

This is probably the best list that I have seen in a long time. Excellent.

WritingsForLife said...

wow.. these are good. Some of them actually gave me the shivers, the one about silk and animal testing...
thanks :-)

How do we know said...

Hi Pixie: Yep, I understood rather late in life how important that line "Not tested on animals" can be.

Hi Aurora Sky: Thanks!! How have u been girl? I've been thinking of u and praying for u.

Hi SMART: You ARE good!! Well, you and i both have at least one starting point each.

Hi exseno: Thanks!!

Hi Raaji: Yes, it is a little shocking. How have u been?

Mampi said...

Wow,
You rock, girl.
With this post, tussi ta chaa gaye.
wonderful message.