WASTE MAKERS
WASTE MAKERS
The title of the blog comes from the book I read years ago when I was a teenager ..its a book written by Vance Packard an American journalist, its mainly about consumerism and the negative effects it has on the society as a whole.
But this book surprisingly helped me to reduce waste in my day to day life even though I was not aware of zero waste or sustainability concepts then.
Another book that greatly inspired me is Theory of the leisure class by Thorstein Veblen .Veblen coined the words like conspicuous consumption , conspicuous leisure .His theories were quite hard for me understand at that time but I started interpreting them to the way I buy for example buy only things we need or what can be reused ,upcycling etc.
I am not a authority of an kind of sociology or economy or capitalism but what I am trying to say is as human beings we are creating a lot of waste .
It saddens me a lot to see how much we are destroying our beautiful eco system and for what? Our wants and needs are getting bigger and bolder day by day..Please don't get me wrong I am not apposed to development or technological advances but I want all of is to pause and think a minute before buying anything.
I hate single use plastics but again I stress there are some single use plastic uses like syringes and some medical equipment which are lifesavers...We should leave the overall consumption of single use plastic to things which really make a impact on our lives.
Recently I visited USA and was staggered at the amount of waste they create( its my personal opinion only ) my visit to Costco and sams club was mind blowing the sheer amount of consumerism i experienced in USA i have never seen in my life and I have lived in two continents .
They just don't believe in drinking water from a tap or using reusable water bottle..They carry cases of single use plastic water bottles where ever they go and just throw them..no consequences at all.
And its not just small and cheap things like plastic bottles they change they move houses which for most humans in the rest of the world is a onetime thing for them they just go on going for bigger and better houses.The amount of pollution building a new house adds to the environment the amount of carbon footprint the amount of waste it creates..I just can't even contemplate.
What i am trying to say with all this is we need to feel responsible and think twice about buying anything ..I feel consumerism and over buying is one of the main contributers to the environmental pressures we are creating..We are literally choking the earth 🌎 in every possible way with our unlimited wants and needs.
Yes we need to keep the economy moving we need to create more jobs we need to cater for ever growing population that's where even a small change in your lifestyle makes a big difference..Controlling the bigger wants and needs is not in our hands but atleast we can stop using single use plastics for a start.
Make eco conscious swaps..go back to basics try to live little bit with less convenience.
Make an effort switch to bar soap this small change can be your small contribution to mother earth 🌎 revival.
Reuse the Amber glass bottles my body butters come in they are food grade and make excellent choice to store and carry around yogurts or pasta sauces or just storing trinkets.
We are working on a jar return scheme but I want this pandemic to be over before I start that in order to be mindful towards my customers and society.
Once again I highlight what I expressed in this blog are my personal opinions and I am just sharing on how strange my journey towards zero-waste and sustainability started.
Be safe friends and please think before buying..
Let's not be remembered as waste makers..