Going Back, Going Green!

Everybody is talking about environment because it is the World Environment Day today. People are being encouraged to make changes in their lifestyle to help the cause of environment. Carrying cloth bags for shopping is one of them. A few decades ago, that was the norm. I remember using cloth bags stitched at home to bring vegetables. But few years later it became a downmarket thing to do. Plastic bags of different sizes and colours took the market by storm. Now one could go to the market without having to carry the boring cloth bags, and return home with vegetables peeping out of the crisp and crackling plastic bags. Not just veggies, but everything you bought would be handed over to you in a plastic bag. The fancier the shop, the more stylish the plastic bag! But times have changed. It is nice to see the humble cloth bag make a grand return. Going by the trends, one will not be surprised if it becomes a fashion statement in the days to come!

Same is the case with paper bags. Your friendly neighbourhood grocer would always pack your stuff in handmade paper bags. Or he would simply wrap things in sheets of paper and tie the bundle with thread. Then paper disappeared to make way for attractive plastic bags that would be lined on the shelves of supermarkets, proudly displaying their contents through their transparent bodies. It was so convenient, neat and clean to just pick them up and toss them in your cart! But now environmental concerns are making people return to the good old paper bags.

Milk used to be delivered door to door. When the milkman came, you rushed to the door with a container to collect it. No plastic involved. Mother Dairy milk vending machines in Delhi support and implement the idea of 'no plastics' beautifully. You go to the outlet, buy the required number of tokens, set your container under the machine, and with the drop of each token in the slot the machine dispenses half a litre of chilled milk in your container. It is easy, convenient, and very eco-friendly.

Containers used to be carried to the shops for buying cooking oil too. No plastic jars and no plastic pouches. Now people are talking about going back to the same practice to cut the use of plastic. It was common to use coconut husk to scrub utensils. While banana leaves were extensively used in South India for serving meals, in several other parts of India, it was the modest dona and pattal. Pattal is a circular plate made by stitching together dried leaves of sal, banyan or other trees. Dona is a bowl made using the same material. These were convenient and completely bio-degradable. Making them came under cottage industry which provided employment to men and women, When shops began to be flooded with disposable plates, bowls and spoons made of plastic, the existence of this cottage industry was threatened. But as awareness about the dangers of plastic is increasing, the simple dona-pattal are slowly making a comeback. Earthen cups called kulhad in Hindi were common for serving tea in public places like railway stations and roadside stalls until plastic cups replaced them in a big way. I had the pleasure of sipping tea from a kulhad in Kolkata a few months ago. Hope to see them in other places too. 

While plastic brought convenience and ease with it, we had to pay the price in terms of endangering the environment. It feels great to see some of us spreading awareness and returning to the good old practices. We had many excellent ways of doing things in those days, some of which may be very difficult or almost impossible to adhere to in today's world. Environment is a major factor that affects almost every aspect of our life. I have touched upon a handful of them from a common man's perspective. If you recollect environment-friendly alternatives from earlier times that are still feasible to try, do share them in the comments section.