Starting afresh

[Gayathri Nayar]

Dear friends,

    It is a very long time since we have used this group, and I hope that you are all happy and keeping well, amidst the trials of living. It is quite possible that many of us have moved on in our interests too, from the goals of this group. If you have evolved in your inner preoccupations from environmental sustainability, please do not mind to leave the group, if this is what you wish. For myself, sustainability, and the goals of achieving a zero-waste and low energy footprint lifestyle have continued to be important targets, even though I was overtly engaged in other projects during the last three years.

    A few months ago, the children in my neighborhood volunteered to me that they would very much like to help clean up the littered areas of the campus, and to participate in solutions for the environment on our campus. I was surprised and grateful, and the incident triggered a train of thought about whether our group could be revived as a sustainability initiative in our campus community. 

    To my mind, the goals of such a sustainable-living community would be simple, and more diverse, than that of merely cleaning the campus, though that could be undertaken too, when necessary: 

1. A sustainable-living community could serve as a support group to assist, inspire and educate each other about waste, and in adopting practices that would help our households become zero-waste, and it could also actively serve to promote the idea of zero-waste and sustainable living among the rest of the campus.

2. I am an active participant in online communities in our city that promote sustainable and natural living, as well as having many real-world friends working in this domain, and it would be possible for me to invite many individuals in the region, who have manifested these ideals in their personal lives to a greater extent than I have, to visit, inspire and share their learnings with us. 

3. We could also try to tackle the overwhelming waste management problem of our campus, namely the lack of source segregation of waste by campus households, by conducting targeted awareness campaigns among specific sections of the campus, including the schools, as Mrs. (Dr.) Viji Ramamurthi, who is in charge of the OWZone operations, has proposed that we could contribute.

4. We can try to organize interested children of the neighborhood to help combat our wildlife caretaker Mr. Murugamandam's great grievance- ring-shaped, hard objects like pipe sections or bangles that litter the campus and often cause mortal injuries to deer.

    There is, of course, much more that we could do as a group, and the greatest value offering of such a sustainable-living community, in my own view, would be that we, the members, would be empowered to live our lives in a more meaningful and enlightened manner, in the context of the grave environmental concerns that our collective choices and worldview have precipitated.

    Do let me know if you would be interested to participate in this new initiative, and also if you would rather not, at this time. The group's name may likely be altered to reflect the priorities of those who wish to remain and continue. If you would like to participate in the rebirth of our group, I thought it may be good to find a convenient occasion for at least a few of us to meet for a short time to discuss our course forward.

Best regards,

Gayathri