fort, mumbai

mills

Crocheted basket made out of used plastic bags

Juhu beach

This is what the beach looked like today morning when I went to play frisbee. This is the ground we played on today.

I know that most of us think that it is not upto us. We look at this garbage in disgust and scoff at the authorities for using the ocean as a dumping ground. All medical waste, plastic waste from toy factories and general garbage gets dumped in the water because it is convenient. And because the dumping grounds in Bombay [that consist of acres and acres of land with piles and piles and mountains of waste upto 50m high, that is 5 stories!] are already taking in twice as much as what is legally permitted. And even if it were all within permissible limits it is still garbage that does not get decomposed and is extremely toxic and hence illegal to recycle. It also gets dumped on land that we live on and it releases toxic fumes that make us ill.

You CAN make a difference and these are my suggestions as to how... All the points below are what I follow as much as I can so I know it is very possible to incorporate in our lives:

- Line your dustbin with newspaper instead of plastic and wash your dustbin once a week
- Use cloth mops instead of kitchen roll
- Buy fresh milk from the milkman instead of milk in plastic bags and tetrapacks
- Carry your own water bottle instead of buying packaged water
- Don't wrap your food in foil or plastic wrap, carry it in a lunch box instead
- Do not use straws for any beverages you drink from the roadside or from restaurants [try drinking coconut water without a straw, it is so much fun!]
- Do not drink chai, juices, etc. from vendors who use plastic disposable glasses instead of glass
- Carry a compact cutlery set [spoon and a container that can serve as a bowl or a glass] and use it while eating ice cream and any other roadside drink or food [If we can carry our deodorants and compact make-up sets and headphones and laptops we can surely carry this]
- Carry cloth bags or used plastic bags [that can be neatly folded and tucked away in your purse/bag] at all times and use them while buying fruits, vegetables, clothes or anything else. Even if the shop offers paper or cloth bags it is still better to reuse what you already have instead of taking in more
- Do not buy fruits and vegetables that are packaged in plastic and styrofoam from fancy supermarkets
- Do not go to supermarkets that force plastic bags on you and do not allow you to use your cloth bag
- Keep reusing whatever plastic bags you have, as much as you can, for as long as you can before you discard it

- Do not use disposable cutlery while hosting an event or a party. Guests are happy to rinse their own cutlery or even bring their own like we did for Adrienne's birthday!

- There is so much more you can do depending on your routine so be innovative!!!

This may sound a bit excessive to some of you, but do what you can, set your own standards and it WILL make a difference.