Planet friendly middle-class habits

I am sure most of you must have come across memes, blog posts, videos that make fun of desi middle-class habits. But have you ever wondered how these jugadoo acts of saving money are good for our planet? Frugality runs in the blood of the Indian middle class. And, being frugal is planet-friendly.

Here are some typical eco-friendly desi middle-class habits that you must have grown up seeing your parents do!

• We know our reusing and up-cycling game very well! 

We hate throwing away stuff and collect everything so that it can be used when the need arises. Our storerooms are usually filled with upcycled boxes with screws, buttons, nuts, broken wires, hooks and what not! We run to our storerooms, whenever we need to fix something. Be it a damaged cooker ki seeti or torn clothes. 

Every middle-class family has one big plastic bag filled with smaller polythene bags. Not Just that, we neatly tear gift wraps and while it may seem like a bizarre thing to do for saving a  few pennies but isn’t it great to reuse that plastic wrapper? Carefully removing birthday decorations and keeping them safely for the next year. Re-gifting is also very much part of the desi middle-class family. Somehow, mothers make sure that the same person who gifted us the gift is not given the same gift.

• We are pro at slow and sustainable fashion. 

Slow and sustainable fashion is something that nobody can teach you better than a middle-class mom. Our old clothes never make their way to the garbage bin unless they complete a decade cycle. The clothes that we initially wore to special functions for a few years get passed down to younger siblings or become casual wear. When they are dull and faded, they become nightwear, then Holi wear. No, we do not wear new white clothes to play Holi. We wear decade-old clothes. In the end, if clothes are completely damaged then they are perfect to become a pocha or duster because typically we never buy a new piece of cloth to mop the floor. 

If you have creative family members then many of your old clothes might get converted into rugs, mattresses, quilt, cushions. Beautiful sarees are converted into curtains, table cloths and sometimes even into a new designer dress! My dadi used to make soft toys and dolls out of old clothes. My mom says that an old cotton saree serves best for hot vessels in the kitchen. Middle class parents usually get their clothes stitched by local tailors instead of buying clothes from fast fashion brands. They also know who stitched their clothes and pay them the money they deserve.

• We Know Sharing is Caring!

Passing down clothes and all other essentials among family members is a typical middle-class thing. Middle-class parents buy uniforms and school shoes, a size bigger so that they can be used for a year or two extra and money is saved. Younger siblings and cousins are expected to use second-hand stuff be it school uniform, bags or book. It may be irritating. But, It’s eco- friendly.

• We Understand the importance of paper.

We collect newspapers just to sell them to the kabadiwallah for recycling. Books and notebooks are covered with old newspaper, it is used as shelf liners, and as an occasional hand fan in most middle-class homes. Used notebooks are given to the raddiwala and the unused notebook pages are torn off and bundled together to make new notebooks!

• Eco-friendly traveling is in our genes.

To save some money, we walk short distances or use a bicycle. We use public transport. If we do have to go somewhere by auto or rickshaw, we usually walk some distance before taking the auto and also get down a little before the destination to save on the auto fare. This is great for the planet as it helps save on fuel.

• #BYO (Bring your own bottle, cutlery, or food) might be a new hashtag but it’s an old age practice in middle-class families.

Middle-class moms are sentimental about carrying homemade food and water bottles. It’s impossible to imagine traveling with them without a dabba of poori sabzi and achaar or thepla. If not for the planet then at least for saving the money charged for a carry bag at malls, we carry our own bag. (We rarely shop at Malls though, local kirana stores and sabzi mandis where the vendors don’t cling wrap every single vegetable in plastic, are our go-to place. Yes we #supportlocaleconomy)  

• We don’t waste food.

We prepare freshly cooked meals and preserve seasonal veggies by natural preservation methods such as sun drying or making pickle, murabba, papad, etc. Middle-class moms have a habit of carrying their empty dabba when they dine out on rare occasions so that leftover food can be taken back home for eating later.

• Random upcycled stuff that is usually found in every middle-class home.

—Cardboard boxes decorated beautifully for storing things. Till the early 20s it was rare to find a toothbrush holder in a middle-class home. Instead you would see some DIY holder made of reused cardboard. At my home, we still do not have a market bought holder. An old cardboard strongly holds all dry toiletries.

—Kitchen Shelf filled with random dabbas of different shapes, sizes & colours. No, we do not throw old plastic dabbas to replace them with fancy plastic containers or glass jars that are sold as zero waste products! Anything new is not zero waste. Middle-class people understand it the best. Not just that, Cookie boxes or sturdy mithai ka dabbas go from the kitchen to mom’s room for storing a sewing kit.

—Empty paint buckets being used as planters. Damaged bathing buckets are used for growing food or for making compost. My mom didn’t let me buy a composter, instead we used an old bucket for it. Though I wanted an aesthetic composter for my home but I am thankful to my mom for not letting me buy one. Middle-class parents are certainly a more mindful consumer than a millennial like me.