Thursday, November 22, 2012

Show up and support

Even labours of love need recognition. Few parents ask for thankyous, but that doesn't mean they don't want your thanks. Volunteers help those affected by natural disasters out of the goodness of their hearts, and are gratified when the people they've helped show their appreciation.
Greenpeople is definitely a labour of love. When my blogviews FINALLY crossed 1000, I felt vindicated. It's true that I do this for myself. It makes me happy. And seeing that people in other parts of the world do want to hear what I have to say is a pretty darn awesome feeling too!
This week's shade of green: Show some support. Goumbook is organizing an event today and tomorrow at Dubai Marina Mall: Future Green 2012. I'm definitely heading there to see what Organic Foods and Cafe has to offer, to check out Averda's ReVa (where I come from the Reva is an electric car), to take a dekko at what the EWS-WWF are up to.
My sister and I took advantage of one of the recent long weekends to check out The Change Initiative. She bought chips, lip gloss and a card, just to show her support. There were lots of other things there too, like clothes and toys and food and this LED tablet that reminded me of a neon pink writing slate I had as a kid.
Of course you are welcome to show your support for other positive work, like the awesome people at GOACAN, who help people in Goa fight for their civic and consumer rights.
This weekend is Thanksgiving, right? Count your blessings, sure. And be one too!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

I can see a light.

symbol, lamp, cartoon, light
Bright ideas? If it's incandescent, maybe not.
Happy Diwali!
It's the Festival of Lights today, a metaphor for chasing away darkness and evil and welcoming goodness and light. (Though sometimes, as with Earth Hour, you shut off the lights as a symbol of superior knowledge- the knowledge that you are saving the world, plunging yourself into darkness because you CAN.)

So what say we commit to saving the world from evil? How about this Deepawali we commit to energy-efficient lighting? And that's today's shade.

LED lighting  is supposed to be the next big thing in lights (heck, where I come from CFL's are the big thing. But as everyone in the developed world knows, CFL bulbs contain haz chems that LED's apparently don't. Time for  a change?)

Be careful around fireworks!

Image: nemo via pixabay

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

What's in a package?

There's a joke in our family that every year, before the monsoons hit, Mum puts layer over layer over layer of tarpaulin or whatever to weatherproof our house. And then she puts one more for good measure.

It's kinda funny, but maybe that's just because I get the inside joke.

You know what's not funny? Layer upon layer upon layer of packaging.Yes, I know your cereal can't be put directly into a cardboard box. If they were, the crispy flakes of corn would be soft within days, especially in areas with high humidity.
But do cookies really need a tray? Are they so fragile that they cannot endure being transported in just the outer packaging? I don't think so either.

In the end, all that packaging has to go somewhere. Less packaging= less rubbish to worry about/recycle/dirty the place.
Shade of green? The next time you go shopping, buy products that have as little packaging as possible, or that make use of eco-friendly packaging. I was famished after a long train ride and picked up biscuits for AED 2 (less than a dollar, roughly Rs. 30). I made sure I chose the kind with no tray. #NotThatHardToDo
Weetabix replaced plastic packaging with paper. Today's delightful discovery!

About Me

Greetings, citizens of the world! We are united by planet and species, so what say we do our best to look after our handfuls of earth?