India Makes Tiny Choices!
By Jenn | December 30, 2008
During a recent trip to India, I was overwhelmed by the sad state of environmental affairs– the smell of burning plastic trash seemed to follow me everywhere I went, and particulate matter suspended in the air in Mumbai is so bad that folks often carry a hanky to hold over their face while they breathe. While I could go on and on about the heart-wrenching pollution I experienced, I’ll save that for a future post (bet ya’ll are really looking forward to that!) — today’s post is all about the great Tiny Choices I encountered along the way:
 My dear friend Amy, who was not only wonderful enough to rescue me from the madness of the Mumbai airport but also generous enough to teach me how to cross a street in India, bought a garland of beautiful white flowers for my hair. She knew I’d love the way the flower-wallahs wrap the strands up for transport home– they wrap your purchase up in a leaf and tie it with a bit of cotton string. No plastic involved anywhere!
Hmmm, that probably breaks international packaging laws of some kind… |
 We needed cardamon for our morning masala chai, so we stopped at the local shop and bought a small amount. The shopkeeper put the cardamon pods into the center of a piece of newspaper and did a fancy little wrapping job– et voila (how would one say that in Hindi?), a no-waste purchase. I loved it!
By the way, if you’ve never made homemade masala chai, I implore you to do so posthaste. It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s way more delicious than those faker frappa-latte-chai-grande-chinos which go by the same name. (Some recipes here, but experimentation is half the fun!) |
 So apparently sometimes when you purchase items at a shop, they’ll be packed up in little baggies made from reused magazine pages. I’m not clear on whether the shops make these themselves (which would certainly save money) or buy them in bulk– but either way, it’s a great idea. I’m sure the glues they use to hold the bags together are vegan, right? Right? |
 Hello, what a smart idea–cotton is sold in small rolls, from which one can tear off just the amount needed for the task at hand. Sometimes you might need less than then amount contained in one of our elitist Western “cotton balls” and sometimes more– with this solution you can determine your own cotton needs. |
 This is a bidi, which “consist of shredded tobacco that are hand rolled in a tendu leaf and secured with a colorful string at one end.”
I am including this here because it is a fully “natural” product– no dioxin-laden wrapping papers, no fiberglass filter, no chemical tobacco additives. By no means am I suggesting these are healthy– in fact the Indian government declared “bidis - India’s most commonly used form of tobacco - cause tremendous health, economic and social harm… claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year, while the bidi industry undermines India’s economic progress and condemns millions of exploited workers to extreme poverty.” Coming from a country which routinely sprays airplane cabins with a “completely harmless insecticide” WHILE PASSENGERS ARE ON BOARD, that bidi warning should be taken very seriously (insert head wobble here). ‘Nuff said. |
 A neighborhood blackout made for some lovely photos– and check it out, bulk grains! |
 How’s this for curbside recycling?
For a country without many formalized recycling programs, between pigs and cows searching for food scraps, and the Dalits (Untouchables) searching for any material they can resell, a surprising amount of trash gets picked through and sent on to a second life of some sort. I’m not going to post a photo of Dalits picking through trash, because it is an overwhelming scenario for me to wrap my head around… but yes, they really do. |
 I was thrilled to find a dual-flush toilet at the Udaipur airport– it’s a new building, and how amazing that they took a green step in the bathroom construction!
I did notice a water-conservation movement in Udaipur, most notably this awesome sign which is clearly visable from Lake Pichola — apparently the Udaipur Lake Conservation Society is behind much of the initiative: “The lake system of Udaipur supports and sustains ground water recharge, drinking, agricultural, industrial, ecological water availability and employment to 60% population through tourism… the main threats to the lake system are:- catchment area degradation, dumping of solid , liquid waste, encroachments, destruction of submergence areas, over exploitation of water, poor governance and lack of citizens, stakeholders participation in management of lakes. Many of small lakes are now extinct.” Our Tiny hats off to you, ULCS! |
 This may have been the tastiest street food I’ve ever eaten– a samosa, on a roll, with spicy green coriander chutney– made even yummier by being wrapped in newspaper.
Hygienic? Probably not. But a great Tiny Choice. |
 This is how my hotel heats their hot water for showers– 6 solar panels and two water tanks provide 24/7 hot showers (which made me feel absolutely horrifically decadent, and overjoyed at being squeaky clean). The hotel owner gestured over towards another rooftop which was conspicuously lacking solar panels, and derided that owner for paying exorbitant sums of money each month to heat his water using electricity.
Peer pressure! |
 More solar going on at Udaipur Outback (sidenote: if you ever find yourself in Udaipur, give Piers a call and let him take you on a hike into the rural countryside– plus, the loveliest retreat house in the whole world. Truly.) |
 I’d like to close with a photo having nothing to do with green choices– but, my goodness, isn’t this the most beautiful elephant you’ve ever seen in your whole life? |
[Images by me!]
Related posts:
- Tiny Choices Survey: Piers!
- Lush Makes Tiny Choices!
- What makes an expert?
- Tiny Choices Weekly Roundup
- Tiny and Not So Tiny Home Choices
- Tiny Choosing Bedsheets
- Tiny Choices Weekly Roundup
what an awesome, very informative post, thank you Jenn! I especially love how they are so creative with using what is available, instead of the american way of buy-buy-buy plastic bags, tissue wrapping paper, etc.
fantastic! this must have been quite the fun and eye-opening trip - thanks for sharing.