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We had this release weekend; some of the staff had to work on Saturday and Sunday. A load of food was ordered to keep the staff going…Apart from meals there were snacks; crisps, chocolates, fruits, drinks…. I overate! All these snacks were so tempting and in front of me that even though I was full, I was tempted to stuff myself….

In the evening when most of the staff had left, I took a stroll in the kitchen to get some tea…I saw the bin was full of unwanted food…loads of left over stacked up… My immediate reaction was “What a waste!” I got a bit disturbed. The way home I was restless, but was not sure what the reason was. I took a taxi back home as it was too late. On my way through the London streets I could see tall buildings, most of them offices, all lit up. London is really amazing to look at night, I thought! As the excitement settled down, the restlessness creped up again. It was Sunday evening, but the lights of all the offices were on. A waste again! Or may be they had a good enough reason to keep them ON throughout the weekend.

The next morning on my way back to office, I saw a huge banner which read “some people in the world do not have clean water, food….” And something more (I don’t remember). It struck me; I was ashamed of myself….. I remembered the left over food, the bin loaded with food, all the delicious, tempting food that I munched on even though I was not really hungry. This was not the first time that I had seen such an ad…. I had seen it hundreds of times before, but what I felt bad about is that I am not doing anything about it. What can I do? How could I tell the management to not throw away so much food and order only what is required? How can I tell all the offices to switch off the lights? I see people around me wasting paper, and not recycle them but how can I tell them not to? They will think I am a nerd!

I have been brought up in a country where I have seen poverty from a very young age. I would see beggars on the streets everyday on my way to school. I saw my mum reusing plastic bags, newspaper but at that age I did not know if that was good or bad. I just knew that this is how it is. I learnt at a very young age that food is precious and that you should not waste it. If there was any left over my mum would give it off to maid servants or beggars, who would be very grateful to get it.

But then things started changing. I came to a different country, a country which was already developed, was much more sophisticated, it gave its people all the facilities which I never imagined I would get in my country. I was happy to see a country so self sufficient. I could rarely see a beggar; a maid servant was as rich as I was. The government took care of the people so well that I realised that the people here did not know what poverty is. What it is to go without food, electricity, water for a day or so. The country may have had a history of struggle, but last 3-4 generations were not touched by the dark side of life.

It is very easy to get used to the luxuries and comfort that life offers but to live without them is a struggle. I got used to these comforts myself, and slowly forgot about the basic living style that I used to lead back in my own country. I forgot what I had seen and felt about those poor people. I forgot about the naked kids playing around the open gutter. I forgot that I can help them get what I have got in life.


I started using plastic bags generously, throw away paper even if the other side was blank (I had the habit of using both the sides of paper – making the most of it). I also started to bin food if I did not like it. I kept the tap on while brushing, lights on even if I was not in the room. I forgot about all those people that I used to see everyday struggling to get the basic requirements of life. I should indeed be ashamed!

And now I think it is not what others are doing around me that I should worry about, but I should think about myself before pointing my finger to others because I have seen poverty more than people here. I have experienced the darker side of life myself and hence it is easy for me to relate to these issues. I should do something about it. I can do something about it!

I may not be able to change the BIG world but I can try changing the little world around me by doing what is right. And you never know there may be many such small worlds around you that are changing or will change and there will be a day “let’s hope” when all these small changes will change the big world. Fingers crossed!!

Hi Seema,

Absolutely, it's just what I was telling a friend today if we all made changes in our little world the big world would also change!

Lovely post, thank you!

Violeta

Thanks so much Violeta! I have started making those changes

Seema,

Your "little world" is also a big world at the same time, and all we can ever do is attend to where we are right now, and it sounds to me as if you are doing that!

And we can all remember that since everything and everyone in the world is interconnected (I was reminded of that last night in yoga class! I wrote about it here), that little changes have big ramifications!

Be well, and at peace,

Phil

Hey Phil...

you are right, many tiny drops can make an ocean! I'll try making my little world a better place....

Thanks for your comment!

Seema

Hi,
Well written and well said...I am sure people like you will certainly make the change happen....

Many times people make excuses saying "My eyes are bigger than my stomach"....the attitude need to change

Regards,
VB

I wrote a huge post yesterday and then deleted it, basically I started out with good intentions but ended up just trying to pee all over your bonfires.

Did anyone spot the rise in the turtle population in Hawaii last month, my local supermarket is now charging 2 pence for carrier bags.

Compare the waste made on a hourly basis by junk mail companies and then ask yourself if using the back of a piece of paper really makes a difference.

Compare the amount of water that has gone through the expensive treatment process and then leaks into the ground before even reaching anyones home and then tell me leaving your tap on when brushing your teeth makes a difference.

Compare the effort and financial commitment put into oil and gas pipelines across the world and then tell me the reasons it is not happening in Africa and Asia to supply clean water to everyone.

Compare the volume of fuel burnt each day as vans a lorries spend 50% of their time driving around empty to that my 2 year old fuel efficient car that needs to be hit with a 'green' tax at every opportunity. How many thousands of tonnes of aviation fuel was burnt over London, NY, Sydney, Tokyo and Barcelona in the last minute? Does my bit make ANY sodding difference?

You can imagine starving people across the world tonight feeling a little comfort as our occasional guilt wafts their way to show just how much we care.

If I never use paper again, if I never use a drop of fuel or give all of my salary to charitable organisations no difference will be made. If I only eat basics and ethically sound goods, the same volume of lorries carrying the unethically inhumane produced goods still arrive to restock the shelves at the supermarket.

If I gave £100 to every homeless person in every capital city across the world tonight, would that fix the problem of the lack of orphanages, medical care for the poor and get these people intergrated back in life? I/we cannot fix these problems, we can offer the odd heart warmed gesture and even make a difference to a handful of peolpe but we/I am far to down the decision making line to make a lasting change.

IMHO, if you want to make a difference, get to the top of your career ladder and lobby those at the top of business and politics to install change where the mass production of waste is made.

Across the world right now, we the tax payer are bailing out the banking industry with incoherent volumes of money, when we were looking for funds to meet our commitments to tackle poverty and famine, that money never existed, and, again, IMHO, it never will exist for that cause.

.... or... maybe if we all did our bit and put a pound in the bank we could save that banks?......

Saying every drop in the ocean helps is about as effective as asking every one to carry a cupfull of water home with them from the beach to fix the problem of the rising sea levels.

To ease world poverty we need little drops of billions of pounds on a weekly basis, anyone here got that? No, so all we can offer is our occasional guilt that we few are so so very lucky.

Please tell me I am wrong, I want to be wrong :-(

Thanks,

Matt

Hello Matt,

Your post sounds a bit harsh but it is the truth. I keep reading all these stuff everyday and I get so fed up that at times the effort I take to reuse, recycle, save the planet, whatever, makes no sense to me. I feel “what is the use?” when million of people do not even care to think about it!

But deep down, my conscious does not allow me to give up! I may be floating in an imaginary world where I see that one fine day the world will be a better place but this imagination makes me feel good. The week my recycle bag is full I feel happy about it. I feel I have done something good. This sense of happiness keeps me going; it may not help the big world at all, but at least I do not have the guilt at the end of the day that I am being a part of group that is ruining the world.

It is easy to complain and not do anything about it, but if each one of us does that we will have a world full of moaners. I used to be like that before but I ended up getting more frustrated, filled myself with hatred towards others. But when I did not bother what others did but made sure I did the right thing I was more satisfied and happy. What changes I am talking about may not save the world but I will be happy to be the one who TRIED to save it.

Not all of us can go on top of our career ladder and try to change the picture, so why not try it doing from where we are.

I hope I have taken out some of your frustration . When I first started thinking of started this thread I had the same anger in me, but I did not find the right solution, so I changed the way I was thinking, which in turned changed my entire perspective to viewing this issue.


Cheers….
Seema

Hi Matt,

You're right it is like that but Seema's right too and if we all make a difference in our little worlds maybe that will be the difference that makes the difference!

Violeta

Question: How does 1 person in 6,000,000,000 change the world?

Answer: With PASSION.

John

Success is the ability to go from one failure to the next with no loss of enthusiasm

I dont know about everyone else but I think that we can make a difference even if it is only to help ourselves, I cant change the world economy or the wastage on this planet but I can change my economy by wasting less and I can help to keep my little area of the world a cleaner place.

I do my bit to clean up after myself and after others for that matter, i go for a walk along the beach in the afternoon and i am surprised at how many people just walk straight past rubbish or worse just drop their rubbish and keep walking.

We pick up rubbish as we do our afternoon exercise along the beach because I believe that setting a good example for my kids to follow is important, hopefully other will see me picking up the rubbish and follow my example. As more and more people do the same perhaps , over time it can make a difference.

I hate leaving the lights on at night or leaving the taps running, or wasting fuel and these are things i try to avoid. The rising prices of living has forced me more than motivated me to be less wasteful.

I looked at changing to green power and fitting solar panels to my house before the solar rebate was taken away by the Goverment, however the cost of changing over to solar was far greater than any benefit i could hope to gain. Even after recieving a rebate, fitting a 2Kw solar system would have cost 25 thousand dollars, all to save perhaps $600 per year off my power bill.

Like Matt said even switching to a green energy supplier means an extra expenses. Most struggle to meet the morgage repayments and living expenses. How can the average person be expected to make a difference when there is little incentive and benefit for them to do so?

Matt is right and I am not convinced that the Governments and the big industry really care about making a difference. Any major change needs to come from the top down, and it need to be beneficial.

I realise that we live in a goldfish bowl and that as a species we are the environments worst enemy. Off the soap box, for now.

Have a great day.

Frederic

Hi Frederic,

Miss talking to you on Skype, by the way...

Anyway, I like the little changes that are easy...turn off a light. Don't let the water run while brushing my teeth or shaving. Water the flowers less. Walk somewhere for an errand instead of driving. Eat less meat (or none at all!).

And, talk to some of your friends about those little changes!


Call me a cock-eyed optimist, but I just think those things eventually can make a change somewhere!

Phil

(ok, everyone sing along now!)

Hi Phil

Yes, my friend I too miss our chats, should be online on the weekend hopefully we will both be online at the same time.

I pretty much do the same. We ride our bikes to the shops or into town.

We enjoy outdoor activities and go 4 wheel driving though we make sure we leave the place in a better condition than we found it.

Last week during the holidays i took my kids 4 wheel driving on the beach to visit the coloured sands near Noosa. We pulled up along the beach during high tide and went for a swim and played in the dunes while we waited for the tide to drop. I kid you not we picked up about four garbage bags of glass and plastic bottles and rubbish lying around the little spot we had pulled up at, 10 minutes down the beach were huge industrial rubbish bins I guess it was just too hard for the people whom left the rubbish there to take it with them.

Take care and chat soon

Frederic

Hi, Frederic.

Kudos to you for picking up all that rubbish. You made a difference in the world!

Now carry that smile with you for the rest of the week...

Phil

Frederie,

I just tried changing my little world but you have taken this a step further, by picking rubbish left by others. People like you keep me going

Seema

Thanks guy's.

Nice song Phil, I still struggle with those high notes.

It's also for my own sanity and peace, two boy's full of energy with short attention spans tend to get into mischief, if left to their own devices. It's far better than having them whinning "Daaaaad, (sobb) Ryan hit me (sobb) over the head with a bottle (or worse a lump of wood) (sobb sobb)" .

Bless their mischievious little hearts, they keep me young at heart too.:tongue:

The environment wins, we feel good about ourselves and we can all relax and enjoy our surroundings and hopefully I get time to read a good book. :cool:

Have great day

Frederic