The Choice of being eco-friendly

A few days ago while walking down from a mountain top amidst Himalayan valleys, me and my friend aggravated at the sight of some beer cans and packets of chips heaped along the road. It was a beautiful scenic location, the walk was lovely with sights of the entire valley and the flowers that blossomed made the aura of the place too intoxicating for anyone to be interrupted by those yellow labeled cans on the way.

“One day I want to be at least 90% eco-friendly in my consumer behaviour.” We agreed it wouldn’t be possible to be 100% eco-friendly for anybody because unconsciously our actions have impacts in far-reaching corners of the world. We did stand at 50% just for our consciousness and awareness about the situation. But what would I do to cover than 40% and when? I have definitely been able to do a few of these for starters:

1. Say no to straws: A glass of gin and tonic is best enjoyed with a straw and the singular stream that thus flows in. But what about the plastic of that one-time use straw? Would you ever be willing to use a straw that is recycled? Would you even share your straw with your closest friend? It is more difficult than it sounds to just give up straws, trust me and try it.
2. Kulhad chai over the paper cups: At my new workstation, there are ceramic cups and paper cups, I choose the ceramic ones. There are options to choose take away at Starbucks or the recyclable plastic cups, one could choose the plastic one or demand the ceramic ones for in-house coffee dates. For water at public places, how difficult is it to not use the paper cup and ask for the fancy glasses?
3. Reuse your coffee mug for the second coffee of the day without washing.

And then there are some BIG sacrifices that seem utmost crazy but I am still trying to do.

1. No to sugary drinks for health, wealth and problems of plastic bottle disposal! At a fancy lunch recently there were free Lipton Iced tea bottles kept for grabs, I resisted the urge to get one for a very very long time. At the end of the lunch I did get one and the body still remains in the trunk of my bag, unable to figure out where to dispose it and hide evidences of murder. At Connaught Place, there are reverse vending machines which suck in the used plastic bottles and in return give small tiny rewards.
2. No ordering in food = No packaging material = No cost of your luxury (If you want to eat out, GO out, don’t order in)
3. Walk to all places. A walk to your workplace, cafe or to the movies. Add nature to your outings and spend time with the green.
4. No need for hard copies of books, notebooks. Everything is possible on your phone and laptop, just use those beautiful coloured pens and pretty notebooks to make mandalas!

This is just my plan for transformation, these are the things I noticed happen so regularly in my life. So it gets me 5% closer to my goal and this year I could aim at just that. It will take me at least 10 years since the harder transformations will take longer. But I do expect to live that long and I’m in no hurry!