We’ve all heard the phrase, “you’re not allowed to get up until your plate is clean”, but I don’t think anyone meant that as literally is it is taken in India. A major part of Hinduism is not wasting anything be it food, clothes, or extra materials. I love watching my host mom cook because she cooks significantly smaller portions than my family back home even though both are cooking for a family of 5. She may cook several small dishes and I always get worried if there will be enough but by the time everyone has eaten what they can manage there’s always just a little left over. You only put on your plate what you can eat, which is hard because sometimes you don’t have complete plate sovereignty. You are forced food out of love and it’s great when you are hungry and everything tastes amazing but when you are so full you feel like you won’t be able to stand up or you are not enjoying what your eating you start to get the nervous sweats about how you are going to cram that food into your mouth and not waste it.
Energy, like electricity is not wasted either. The infamous switch panel gets me every time. There is literally a single switch for each individual light bulb, outlet, and ceiling fan. When you walk out of a room you always, ALWAYS turn it off even if you’re coming right back. You even turn your car off when you're stuck in traffic for too long! This is a combination of conservation techniques and saving money; both are motivators in this situation. Keeping ceiling fans on while you are in a room is no problem. I will never forget when Ranjana asked me to turn on the fan because she needed to dry her sweat. I recently learned that at Daly College the reason why classrooms don’t have air conditioning besides saving money and energy. The school wants these upper class Indian students to receive a humble education and have the “true India experience”. Well, at 104 F they’re sure getting it.
San Antonio has been very bad, or naughty as they would say here, about their usage of plastic bags. Austin has banned them but we are still behind on the whole “conserving our earth” movement so we continue dish ‘em out at every grocery store and target in sight. To my surprise India, at least Indore, is great about not using plastic bags and substituting them with paper or recycled bags. The only plastic bags we have in our house were from street and take out food and a select few retail stores (like Forever 21) who are behind as well. My American family has a place where we collect paper and plastic bags so we can use them for sack lunches or holding wet clothes. My Indian family does the same but they beat my American family in efficiency still. They don’t buy trash bags and instead use our collected plastic bags. I definitely feel justified when I use a plastic bag here because I know it is not being used lightly or frivolously.
Water is another source of mass conservation in my landlocked state of Madhya Pradesh just like in my home state of Texas which has been in a drought since I don’t know when. Texans have a stubborn view of how humans and their environment should interact and we are infamous for consuming to our hearts desire for our personal comfort. It’s an unspoken law that you should not be allowed to go more than 100 ft without passing through some air conditioning. Houses always have their AC on, fighting against the sweltering heat of our summers. We don’t like severe cold just as much as we don’t like severe heat so in the winter we make it impossible for us to experience any of the elements. We turn on our bathroom heaters a while before we go into the restroom as to avoid the dreaded cold toilet seat. We turn on the shower before we get in and let perfectly clean water run for a few minutes until the really great hot water starts to flow. All of these tendencies in the US are obviously not sustainable practices and are essentially social and economic suicide in India. Like I said previously fans are used only when you are directly under them. Air conditioning is formatted differently. You don’t have a core system that connects to vents built into your house instead you have units in each room. Showers occur less often, like maybe once a day or every other day instead of the preferred 2 a day back home. Showers aren’t even showers here. I have a shower head which I indulge in every now and then making sure to turn off the tap when I’m not using it to rinse off. Mostly everyone takes a “bath” by filling up a bucket with water and using a large cup to pour the water over you. I have adopted the bucket shower method and I like it more than I thought I would. There’s not a huge difference between the two except one method saves gallons and gallons of water.
In the US there’s the print media crisis. Will newspapers be around for much longer since the majority of our population has access to the internet and can receive news updates directly to their phones via social media and other apps? There is no such crisis here. I’m pretty sure the majority of Indian families receive a newspaper daily which seems like it wouldn’t be very eco friendly. That’s where you’re wrong. If used efficiently receiving a newspaper can be great for your understanding of the daily news and the environment. After reading the paper it’s not thrown away. Oh no that would be wrong. Instead it is used as napkins, drawer liners, and wrappers for any female unmentionables. Carrying newspaper is always a good idea you never know when an opportunity may present itself for its efficient use!
The only slightly negative thing I have to say about India’s conservation techniques are concerned with sanitation. Eating with hands is customary and happens at every meal regardless if you wash your hands before hand or not. There are plenty of fun germs that can find your way onto your hands especially here so I think washing hands before a meal should be mandatory. During meals there are never any napkins involved unless you’re at a fancy-shmancy restaurant. I’ve adjusted my messy eating habits to become a pro at eating without utensils or napkins, but I’m always sure to wash my hands after licking my fingers clean. Some don’t follow those same guidelines so food remnants may be left on your hands for a while which is just no fun because it makes everything you touch greasy. Just like there are no napkins there are no tissues or toilet paper. A majority of Indians carry around a fashionable pocket square/handkerchief for sneezing, wiping off sweat, and cleaning their hands post meal. This absolutely saves water instead of washing hands or saves paper instead of using a disposable tissue or napkin but I definitely think a more sanitary solution should be sought out. Toilet paper is not used in India like it isn’t in many other counties around the world. Instead bidets are used which are fun and startling and make using the restroom an adventure every time. I’m positive that this practice saves a lot of toilet paper and trees and I have had my fair share of bidet experience. I still prefer toilet paper more than an aggressive stream of water.
After living in both areas and seeing how resources are used differently I think both could stand a little acculturation. The US needs to work on being mindful of their resource consumption, not just nationally but individually. India could also work on some more sanitation although it may require more resources.
Energy, like electricity is not wasted either. The infamous switch panel gets me every time. There is literally a single switch for each individual light bulb, outlet, and ceiling fan. When you walk out of a room you always, ALWAYS turn it off even if you’re coming right back. You even turn your car off when you're stuck in traffic for too long! This is a combination of conservation techniques and saving money; both are motivators in this situation. Keeping ceiling fans on while you are in a room is no problem. I will never forget when Ranjana asked me to turn on the fan because she needed to dry her sweat. I recently learned that at Daly College the reason why classrooms don’t have air conditioning besides saving money and energy. The school wants these upper class Indian students to receive a humble education and have the “true India experience”. Well, at 104 F they’re sure getting it.
San Antonio has been very bad, or naughty as they would say here, about their usage of plastic bags. Austin has banned them but we are still behind on the whole “conserving our earth” movement so we continue dish ‘em out at every grocery store and target in sight. To my surprise India, at least Indore, is great about not using plastic bags and substituting them with paper or recycled bags. The only plastic bags we have in our house were from street and take out food and a select few retail stores (like Forever 21) who are behind as well. My American family has a place where we collect paper and plastic bags so we can use them for sack lunches or holding wet clothes. My Indian family does the same but they beat my American family in efficiency still. They don’t buy trash bags and instead use our collected plastic bags. I definitely feel justified when I use a plastic bag here because I know it is not being used lightly or frivolously.
Water is another source of mass conservation in my landlocked state of Madhya Pradesh just like in my home state of Texas which has been in a drought since I don’t know when. Texans have a stubborn view of how humans and their environment should interact and we are infamous for consuming to our hearts desire for our personal comfort. It’s an unspoken law that you should not be allowed to go more than 100 ft without passing through some air conditioning. Houses always have their AC on, fighting against the sweltering heat of our summers. We don’t like severe cold just as much as we don’t like severe heat so in the winter we make it impossible for us to experience any of the elements. We turn on our bathroom heaters a while before we go into the restroom as to avoid the dreaded cold toilet seat. We turn on the shower before we get in and let perfectly clean water run for a few minutes until the really great hot water starts to flow. All of these tendencies in the US are obviously not sustainable practices and are essentially social and economic suicide in India. Like I said previously fans are used only when you are directly under them. Air conditioning is formatted differently. You don’t have a core system that connects to vents built into your house instead you have units in each room. Showers occur less often, like maybe once a day or every other day instead of the preferred 2 a day back home. Showers aren’t even showers here. I have a shower head which I indulge in every now and then making sure to turn off the tap when I’m not using it to rinse off. Mostly everyone takes a “bath” by filling up a bucket with water and using a large cup to pour the water over you. I have adopted the bucket shower method and I like it more than I thought I would. There’s not a huge difference between the two except one method saves gallons and gallons of water.
In the US there’s the print media crisis. Will newspapers be around for much longer since the majority of our population has access to the internet and can receive news updates directly to their phones via social media and other apps? There is no such crisis here. I’m pretty sure the majority of Indian families receive a newspaper daily which seems like it wouldn’t be very eco friendly. That’s where you’re wrong. If used efficiently receiving a newspaper can be great for your understanding of the daily news and the environment. After reading the paper it’s not thrown away. Oh no that would be wrong. Instead it is used as napkins, drawer liners, and wrappers for any female unmentionables. Carrying newspaper is always a good idea you never know when an opportunity may present itself for its efficient use!
The only slightly negative thing I have to say about India’s conservation techniques are concerned with sanitation. Eating with hands is customary and happens at every meal regardless if you wash your hands before hand or not. There are plenty of fun germs that can find your way onto your hands especially here so I think washing hands before a meal should be mandatory. During meals there are never any napkins involved unless you’re at a fancy-shmancy restaurant. I’ve adjusted my messy eating habits to become a pro at eating without utensils or napkins, but I’m always sure to wash my hands after licking my fingers clean. Some don’t follow those same guidelines so food remnants may be left on your hands for a while which is just no fun because it makes everything you touch greasy. Just like there are no napkins there are no tissues or toilet paper. A majority of Indians carry around a fashionable pocket square/handkerchief for sneezing, wiping off sweat, and cleaning their hands post meal. This absolutely saves water instead of washing hands or saves paper instead of using a disposable tissue or napkin but I definitely think a more sanitary solution should be sought out. Toilet paper is not used in India like it isn’t in many other counties around the world. Instead bidets are used which are fun and startling and make using the restroom an adventure every time. I’m positive that this practice saves a lot of toilet paper and trees and I have had my fair share of bidet experience. I still prefer toilet paper more than an aggressive stream of water.
After living in both areas and seeing how resources are used differently I think both could stand a little acculturation. The US needs to work on being mindful of their resource consumption, not just nationally but individually. India could also work on some more sanitation although it may require more resources.