Is Zero-Waste Living Possible?

 

                                                  Photo by Tom Fisk: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bird-s-eye-view-of-landfill-317434

The consumption-heavy growth-at-all cost model that humans have been following for a few centuries now has made matters come to a head with the planet drowning in its own waste. We have defiled the very air we breathe and the water we need for sustenance. Land has been contaminated with poison in the shape of pesticides and disfigured and utterly damaged by mining, construction and the cutting of forests. This has resulted in what we know as the global climate crisis with its attendant problems in the shape of more frequent flooding, heat waves of increasing intensity, unprecedentedly large forest fires and the outbreak of disease and as we recently witnessed, a global pandemic.

One of the major problems associated with environmental degradation and pollution is the appallingly high level of waste generated on account of the way we mass-produce and consume goods, regardless of whether we need them or not. This might make economic growth figures look good, but the mountains of waste which we are unable to dispose of in an environmentally friendly manner that result on account of this, take our planet inexorably towards its doom.

For instance, electricity, which is the engine of the modern way of life, is generated largely by burning fossil fuels or by building environmentally damaging dams that help produce hydro power. Nuclear energy, for its part, comes with the risk of radioactive contamination. In fact, most modern industrial and business activity adds to the problem of waste creation not just on Earth but in space as well, which is increasingly getting clogged with innumerable communication satellites.

There is waste everywhere-in our seas and oceans, deserts and mountains, as well as our cities, towns, villages and islands. We are literally drowning in waste, but are not aware of it, as it hasn’t reached over our heads yet, at least figuratively. This situation, as one might imagine, is simply not tenable, and we need to do something about it right away. Something like living the zero-waste life. Quite radical, you would say-but is zero- waste living even possible?

The Zero Waste Living Approach

Zero waste living may not be something which is practically possible, as the very process of living creates waste in some form of the other, but the zero-waste living approach is something that can help the human race save themselves and the planet they live in from impending ruination. As a matter of fact, the zero-waste approach has become a worldwide movement that has helped more and more people understand what is at stake in this epic battle against waste that threatens the future of all life on earth. They have come to understand that they can adopt a zero-waste centred lifestyle by making mindful and intentional choices that help substantially reduce, if not eliminate, waste from most, if not all, aspects of life.

Here’s how you can approach a zero-waste approach to your life and help save your world as part of a global movement geared towards getting rid of most waste.

Learn to say no

The bane of modern living is that we have far more than we need. Instead of having to hunt for food or forage for it on the forest floor as our ancestors did, we just need to walk to the refrigerator and choose from a bewildering assortment of packaged food that is terrible for our health. Say no to that and try to source fresh food that you can yourself proceed to cook- far healthier and produces less waste too.  Say no, also, to the abomination that is quick or fast fashion and take to wearing durable clothing that lasts for a long time. There are so many other things you can say no to. Like not driving in your car to your place of work and using public transport or riding a cycle instead. If you make a list of things you could say no to, you will discover that it is a very long one indeed.

Consume less

We could all consume a lot less than we do and reduce the awful burden we place on our planet by way of the extraction of scarce resources. It is not for nothing that gluttony and lust were counted amongst the deadliest of sins. Our forebears were on to something elemental about ensuring human survival, which we have clearly lost sight of, given that people in positions of power and authority who should know better go on and on about increasing growth, never mind if that is a one way ticket to oblivion.

We consume too much food, buy more clothes than we need, travel more than we need to and consume way more energy than we need to. This amounts to living on debt and imagining that the bill will never come. Not only are the bills coming in thick and fast, but they are coming with heavy interest and penalties.

Reuse

The use and throw culture which is supposed to deliver convenience, but is really serving the needs of rapacious business houses threatens to thoroughly make the environment increasingly unconducive to all forms of life including our own. One of the best ways to fight this is by taking to reusing everything from clothes and electronic gadgets to water bottles and utensils. One should mend, stitch, darn and repair whatever we can and use it for the longest time.  It’s heartening in this regard that Gen Z finds shopping at thrift stores both fashionable and economical. That is the way to go, and the older folks would do well to take a leaf from their book.

Recycle

Recycling products that have outlived their utility is one of the best ways of tackling the problems of dealing with the gargantuan amounts of waste generated by human activity. Doing so has two benefits- that of dealing with waste in an environment-friendly manner and contributing to the economy by using waste as raw material for all-new products. Examples of recycling waste are numerous. These range from using waste water from homes for watering plants, refashioning plastic straws as footwear, storing spices, buttons, coins and nails in glass containers instead of plastic ones, composting kitchen waste and using it as fertilizer for plants, and using refill jars and bottles for shampoos, detergents and hand wash. Similarly, donating old clothes or repurposing them as bags and repairing old gadgets instead of outright replacing them is something that you can incorporate into your way of life.

Choosing the sustainable lifestyle

The zero waste approach to life is basically following a sustainable lifestyle. This is in stark contrast to the ultra-consumerist approach to life that has been heralded as normal over the centuries leading up to the planetary level disaster that stares us all in the face. Nature has its own cycle of growth, decay and renewal, and we are meant to adhere to its timeline. If we don’t, we ultimately risk our own annihilation, for as surely as the sun rises every day, nature will destroy us and replace us with something else. So, if we don’t want to go the way of the dinosaurs, we need to realign and reimagine the way we live, and zero-waste living is the way to do that.

 

 

Getting rid of our obsession with cars

Photo by Cesar Perez: https://www.pexels.com/photo/white-sports-coupe-733745/

 It is obvious that the world needs to get rid of its obsession with cars as a personal means of transportation. Yet, we see no signs of that happening in any major way. There is a lot of action happening along the lines of replacing gasoline-powered cars with electric ones as if the latter don’t cause any pollution at all. Shouldn’t one be looking at a future with fewer and fewer cars, rather than obsessing with what is better- gasoline cars or electric ones? Cars are bad for the environment and that is something that has been proven beyond doubt.

What we need to do is to get rid of our obsession with cars-a malaise that is increasingly catching on in the emerging economies of the world like India. I would like to clarify that in my opinion, while we need way fewer cars, I am not suggesting that there be no cars at all as some people really do need them. If you have a daily long commute to accomplish and have no recourse to reliable public transport, sure it would make sense for you to have a car. If you are someone who needs to travel out of town frequently, you could possibly go in your car than pay through your nose for a plane ticket. In any case, an aeroplane is known to be way more polluting than a car.

It is the obsession with cars that I abhor. In the larger cities of India where young working adults often live with their parents in apartment complexes, it is not uncommon for a family to have two or three cars. Often, there are quarrels with the neighbours over parking space, but they will not think of riding in one car and save themselves a world of trouble. Buying more and more and bigger and bigger cars has become a matter of prestige notwithstanding the perennially choked roads and some of the most polluted roads in the world.

As many towns and cities in the West legislate to introduce more bicycle and pedestrian-friendly lanes in place of automobile freeways, countries like India and China which for decades had most people riding bicycles as cars were beyond their reach, they are now are going in the opposite direction. Currently China leads the world in the number of automobiles sold, with the US and India in the second and third place respectively. Considering that less than 9% of people in India own a passenger vehicle, one can expect an ocean of cars to deluge the nation of nearly a billion and a half people in the time to come.

People all over the developed and developing world need to be weaned off their reliance on personal cars as an effective way of getting around and instead, be encouraged to adopt public means of transport like buses and metro rail networks. They should also be encouraged to ride a bicycle instead of going somewhere by car or even walking if it is possible. The infrastructure needs to be put in place for this in the shape of larger, better and more comfortable bus and metro rail networks as well as more pedestrian walkways and bicycle lanes. This has to be done at the expense of cars so that people are disincentivized to use them.

It makes every sense to do so from an environmental and personal health point of view. Fewer cars will go a long way in mitigating the factors that contribute to global warming and by encouraging people to walk, cycle and take public transport, there would be a massive reduction in the incidence of lifestyle diseases on account of the exercise they will get. A clear win-win for all. The glamourisation of cars has to stop and the health of the planet and its people should be something that people should focus all their attention on. The time for obsessions is over. It never leads to anything good.

Hoping For Something

 

The marshy landscape stretched endlessly in front of him. He was standing in mud almost to the top of his gum boots. Every time he took a laborious step forward some of the muck would pour down his boots and find its way right down to his toes. It was almost dusk and the sky was an ethereal pink. A cold breeze was blowing across the soggy land creating ripples wherever the marsh gave way to water. John felt a cold shiver pass down his slight frame as he tried to keep warm by pulling his coat together tightly with both his hands.

It started to rain. A cold persistent drizzle that fell like a fine spray. John cursed under his breath.

"Damn, that was all that I needed! I might as well be waterboarded."

He was aware that he was amongst the lucky ones. The whole planet was largely submerged and life as it used to exist on Earth was fast becoming a memory. Climate change and global warming had long crossed the tipping point and everywhere was flooded. In some places, the water rose twenty to thirty feet above the land and at some places, it was a few inches-but everywhere was covered.

Nations had disappeared from the face of the earth like they had never existed. There was death everywhere. Death of humans, animals, birds, plants, forests, farmland, infrastructure, cities, villages and towns. The signs of destruction were largely out of sight covered in water and mud, except at the places where the water was shallow and you could see the relics of destruction-the roof of what was once a proud house, a flattened-out automobile, the ruined fuselage of an aeroplane, parts of skeletons of what were once living beings. Above all was the all-pervading stench of death.

The stench was something that John was used to. It didn’t bother him. Nor did the fact that he might be the only human alive. All he knew was that he was alive and it was his duty to find a way and means to survive another day. He would forage for something to eat all the time. A piece of fallen fruit was his best hope. He didn’t have the strength to hunt. There were a few animals here and there in the marshy land and plenty of waterfowl, but there was nothing he could use to fashion any kind of weapon.

He was thankful for the rain on account of the fact that he could stick his tongue out and try and quench his immense thirst. The patches of water stretching all the way to the horizon were not fit to be considered a source of drinking water. There was simply too much contamination in them because of the dead and decaying matter they contained.

John was a man with a steely resolve and determination. In normal times, he would be the kind of person people would look up to-a natural leader. Someone, who would one day make president or prime minister. But here, he was in an apocalyptic world, which he would not have imagined possible a mere ten years back. He tried formulating a plan in his weak and enfeebled mind.

“What can I possibly do, now? Keep walking, till I find someplace where there is dry ground? Maybe it is large enough to support others like me who have survived? Who knows, we might be able to get together and create some kind of a life? Get a fire going to keep ourselves warm and try and build some thatched huts?"

He held on to that hope and trudged across the muddy plains mile after mile. At times he would get into parts which were as deep as him, and he would have to exert every ounce of his depleting strength to swim out of danger. He knew that if this happened a few times more he would drown on account of sheer exhaustion. 

John thought he saw a large tree loom ahead of him on the horizon. It was dark now and the moon was up. He thought that his mind was playing tricks on him. As he moved closer to what he initially thought was a mirage,  took on the definite shape of an oak tree its twisted leafless branches stretching out towards the moon as if to grasp it. AND IT STOOD ON DRY LAND! Faint with relief John staggered onto the dry land and threw himself down on it and lay prostrate with his face in the grass that grew abundantly around him.

He thought he hear a sound-a human sound and turned onto his back. A tall well-built woman wearing a garment fashioned out of some kind of animal skin stood over him with a large axe in her hands which were raised high above her head as she prepared to strike him on his head. Speechless and transfixed with fear, he watched as the moonlight glinted off its steel blade and the woman struck with all the force she could summon.

John yelled at the top of his voice as he felt a crackling sound emerge from the middle of his skull. A searing pain ripped through his body from the top of his skull to the top of his toes. He opened his eyes and saw the calendar on the wall opposite his bed show the date- 10^th August 2023. The clock next to it showed it was 10 am.

"Damn, I must have hit my head against the headboard. God what an awful dream!”

“That’s what you get when you go on a drinking binge with your buddies,” said his wife smilingly as she came into the room bearing a tray with two cups of tea.

“After you came back from your college reunion party last night, you crashed like a log and snored the night away. Here, this herb tea should cure your hangover.”

"Thanks, honey. I better get dressed for the office. Have an important meeting to attend."

“That may have to wait,” his wife replied.

“Why?”

“It has been raining incessantly since yesterday and all the streets are waterlogged. The city authorities have declared a holiday."

“What?” said John, his skin an ashen- white.

“What’s the matter honey, you can always work from home.”