If  you are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle then of the easiest changes to make is to change your diet. We should aim to eat foods that are naturally occuring and that support the food chain.

Categories: 
Conscious Living,   Green Living   and   Natural Living 

Keywords and Tags:
#greenliving #sustainableliving #sustainablelifestyle #carbonfootprint #environmentalimpact #sustainability #environmentallyconscious #organicdiet #organicfoods

Happy Earth Day everyone!!

Today it is April 22 nd., which is celebrated the world over as the Earth Day, to show our support for environmental protection. With changing weather patterns and annual forest fires, it is more than apparent that each one of us needs to be a responsible citizen of our planet.

Our Mother Earth, Gaia, is kind and bountiful. She is very capable of regenerating and rejuvenating herself- till we do not exploit her resources in the name of progress. We need to practice responsible behavior not just at the corporate level but also as an individual. Each one of us needs to take concrete steps to reduce our carbon footprint!

This year’s theme is “Restore our Earth” … and it is surely high time that we start paying attention to our lifestyle choices and ensure that they are in alignment with sustainable and green living principles!
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On this earth day, let us re-state our commitment to lead a sustainable and green life.

​Categories: 
Green Living, Natural Living and Our World Today

Keywords and Tags:
#greenliving #sustainableliving #earthhour #sustainablelifestyle #carbonfootprint   #cleanenergy  #environmentalimpact   #happyearthday #EarthDay2021 #sustainability #environmentallyconscious

A sustainable lifestyle is one that encourages us to use as little of the earth’s resources as possible. It also suggests the use of renewal resources in order to have less of a negative impact on the world. It is basically a way of life that asks us to be conscious of what we are taking from the earth and to minimize our use of unnecessary products and resources.
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​There are simple yet effective ways that everyone can make a difference to future generations and to make the world a better place to live in. These changes to maintaining a sustainable lifestyle include our choices of food, energy and transportation. 

While this may sound like a dramatic change, the small changes we make do not mean we have to live a less comfortable life. In essence, we should just use what we require and no more than that. Nowadays, people waste with no good reason, such as leaving the water on during our bathroom routine when washing our faces or brushing our teeth.
 
If you are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle then one of the easiest changes to make is to change your diet. We should aim to eat foods that are naturally occurring and that support the food chain. There are suggestions that following a vegetarian diet is the best option for a sustainable lifestyle because it requires the least amount of resources to grow and produce, as well as typically having less impact on the environment.
 
If a vegetarian diet is too extreme then look for foods that are free of pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. These chemicals are detrimental to the environment and can severely impact conditions for humans and animals. Ideally, choosing food that is locally grown is also beneficial because it means less transportation and is typically grown in healthier conditions.
 
Housing can also be sustainable by using fewer resources that are nonrenewable than a typical house. Sustainable housing is also meant to have the least impact on the environment and use less energy to function. Typically, houses that are constructed with sustainability in mind are constructed using materials that are friendly to the environment, such as brick, stone or adobe. To take it a step further, you could create a power resource that uses wind and sun instead.
 
To live a sustainable lifestyle means to tread on the earth with light feet and leave less of a carbon footprint.

A sustainable lifestyle is one that encourages us to use as little of the earth’s resources as possible. It also suggests the use of renewal resources in order to have less of a negative impact on the world. It is basically a way of life that asks us to be conscious of what we are taking from the earth and to minimize our use of unnecessary products and resources.

​There are simple yet effective ways that everyone can make a difference to future generations and to make the world a better place to live in. These changes to maintaining a sustainable lifestyle include our choices of food, energy and transportation

​While this may sound like a dramatic change, the small changes we make do not mean we have to live a less comfortable life. In essence, we should just use what we require and no more than that. Nowadays, people waste with no good reason, such as leaving the water on during our bathroom routine when washing our faces or brushing our teeth. 

If you are interested in living a sustainable lifestyle then one of the easiest changes to make is to change your diet. We should aim to eat foods that are naturally occurring and that support the food chain. There are suggestions that following a vegetarian diet is the best option for a sustainable lifestyle because it requires the least amount of resources to grow and produce, as well as typically having less impact on the environment. 

If a vegetarian diet is too extreme then look for foods that are free of pesticides, herbicides or other chemicals. These chemicals are detrimental to the environment and can severely impact conditions for humans and animals. Ideally, choosing food that is locally grown is also beneficial because it means less transportation and is typically grown in healthier conditions. 

Housing can also be sustainable by using fewer resources that are nonrenewable than a typical house. Sustainable housing is also meant to have the least impact on the environment and use less energy to function. Typically, houses that are constructed with sustainability in mind are constructed using materials that are friendly to the environment, such as brick, stone or adobe. To take it a step further, you could create a power resource that uses wind and sun instead. 

To live a sustainable lifestyle means to tread on the earth with light feet and leave less of a carbon footprint, which is important when we live with conscious awareness. 

​I just thought of this funny incident that had happened to me some time ago. Back when I used to visit client sites in person, one of the Mondays, I decided to wear this beautiful grey crocheted shawl that I had created over the weekend. Now as we know, most Management Consultants are expected to be ‘totally business savvy’ and that too when you are in the technology area, people tend to view folks like myself as if we are AI incarnate (AI stands for Artificial Intelligence- read that as innovative, intelligent machines)!! 

So, one of the client personnel commented on the shawl and complimented me on how beautiful it looked, and I thanked him and said that I am even more happy to hear his compliment, considering I had made it myself!! He was quite taken aback!! He almost blurted out- “you mean made, like actually make it”- making a knitting gesture. I smiled and said yes, except it is crocheted and not knitted. 

Now with this being within the IT (Information Technology) division of the organization; his reaction was not surprising.

As I reflected about it later in the day, I realized that- not many people realize the importance of hobbies and crafts. In today’s day and age where machine produced items are sold at such cheap price, it is almost impossible to think of specially crafted items. Back in India, when I was growing up, we got our clothes tailor-made. That was the norm  and now, tailor-made seems like a luxury which only the uber-rich can afford (particularly here is North America)!

​Hobbies such as knitting, sewing, embroidery, quilt-making and so on, not only help us to create beautiful, unique items- they also allow us to live a sustainable green life. Because the more we make at home (and it does take some time to make one), we get out of the rut of consumerism- “buy at first glance and dump at first fade” viewpoint.

​The few items we make, we take good care of them. If they fade a little or get a little tear- we fix it. We truly utilize the garment for its entire lifecycle and not garbage it as soon as a new sale starts, or it shows the first signs of wear or tear.
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Taking the time and effort to make something of good quality allows us to be our own designer- it feels great to wear our creation with joy and pride. It also helps to improve our mood and self-image; as we are wearing a truly unique (one of its kind) item. AND to top it, most of these crafts are great at relieving stress.

​Crafts like knitting are high on the list of natural stressbusters. I for one, can surely vouch for their great emotional benefits.
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The repetitive action of creating the knits (or crochet stiches) makes it a great meditation tool. Many people who are not able to do traditional meditation of sitting still in one place for a certain length of time, find great benefit in taking up one of these crafts- particularly knitting- as it rhythmically engages both the hands.

​There is something calming, almost serene, maybe even romantic about knitting, particularly on a cold winter evening by the fireplace. Beautiful music in the background just adds to this ambience. And the end product is something that you can enjoy, not only for its beauty, but also for its utility! Each time, you use it, it helps you to relive your calm and joyful experience of artistic creativity.

And don’t think that this is only for women. Many men knit and sew- particularly for its meditative and health benefits and/or for its contribution towards living an earth-friendly green lifestyle.

So, maybe this holiday season, make it a decision to learn a new needle craft and give your dear ones, something that you have created, with lot of thought, caring and love- especially created- just for them.

​If you are wondering on how to get started, then there are many instructional videos that are freely available online. This is how I learnt this skill. Even though I have artistic inclinations; knitting and crochet used to 'scare' me… but once I got the hang of it, I now find that there is nothing which can take its place to help me to relax and feel at ease- particularly after a ludicrous meeting with the clients or after a nerve-jittering day in the financial markets. 

Try it for yourself and see how easy it is to meditate, create something beautiful (and useful) and also relax- all in the same go…

​#craftsforfun #stressmanagement #naturalstressbusters #reducestressnaturally #craftsforreducingstress #knittingmeditation #alternativestomeditation #calmingthemind #restandrelaxation #RandR 

Today is Earth Day- it is time for us to celebrate our connection with mother earth, Gaia, or Bhumi devi.

Most of us have either been working from home or have been under strict lock-down!! This has helped to not just reduce pollution levels in several global cities, but the air quality has markedly improved across our planet!! 

With next to zero flights, we have been able to reduce (if not stop) the destruction of earth’s ozone layer. 
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As we work from home and reduce our shopping errands, we find that our freeways are not crowded with traffic. Usually most people complain about rising gas costs and then there are those industry pundits who claim that we do not have enough crude oil to support our growing demand! 

But- as things have panned out these last few weeks, we know that this is not true. When we respectfully utilize our natural resources, use what is truly needed as per our real requirement and avoid excessive consumption; then we find that our natural resources can go a long way!! 

Not only that we do not need to worry about them getting over, but as we respectfully consume what our mother earth provides us- be it natural minerals, food, water, air, habitat and so on… there is more than enough for all of us. There is neither a need to be greedy nor any need to fear depletion.

Earth has always been regarded as a mother Goddess- Gaia. She is called Bhumi Devi in Sanskrit. And as we would approach any other deity, traditionally we have always regarded mother earth with utmost respect and reverence. We used to pray to her and show our gratitude for all the goodness she provides us.

We used to share a symbiotic relationship with Gaia. But then somewhere along the path, we got sidetracked. We got blinded by our ambitions as well as the ensnaring glitz of success and money. We started taking so much pride in our success, our innovations and rising corporate profits; that we stopped being symbiotic and started being parasitic towards our mother earth. 

Just in case, you are wondering about the difference between the two- then, where two living beings share a symbiotic relationship, they conduct themselves in ways that benefit each other. A good example would be our intestinal good bacteria. We provide a nice happy living space to these bacteria and they in turn help us in efficiently processing our body’s waste elimination. Parasitic relationship on the other hand is where ONLY one organism benefits from the relationship. It tends to keep draining the host till there is nothing left to take any further. A good example of this would be a virus!! 

It is time we stop our looting and pillaging of Gaia. We need to consume responsibly and show more gratitude for Gaia’s immense blessings- in the form of extensive natural resources.

With today being Earth Day, let us take some time to contemplate on our decisions and action. The lock-downs and work-from-home situation will end in due time, but what can you as an individual and as a collective (family, community and so on) do to ensure that our carbon emissions continue to reduce.

​How can you build a symbiotic relationship with our mother earth and not one that is parasitic!! Will you plant more trees and/or find ways in which to ‘green’ your lifestyle and implement simple (and yet profound) sustainable living principles in your daily life- like eliminating or atleast reducing the use of disposable plastic?

There are so many steps we all can take as individuals and ultimately what is our community, our country or even mankind- if not just many individuals. If we each make a decision to honor Gaia- our mother earth and receive her blessings with reverence and gratitude (instead of thoughtlessly pillaging)- then, not only will we have a beautiful place to live but we will also provide a better earth for all those who will come here after us.
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Make a Sankalp today, on Earth Day 2020- to cherish Gaia- our dear mother earth, Bhumi devi. 

#earthday2020 #saveourplanet #Gaia #BhumiDevi #MotherEarth   #greenliving #sustainableliving #earthhour #sustainablelifestyle #carbonfootprint   #cleanenergy #greenliving #environmentalimpact   #happyearthday #sustainability #environmentallyconscious

Whenever we start to write or jot down our thoughts, the first thing we see is the front of our book. Even though we get some really beautiful book-covers, they never seem to exhibit our uniqueness- after all they are mass-produced!!

So, I decided to re-create my book cover by painting it’s cover in my own unique style and colors! A green alternative to the usual store-bought-mass produced books. That is what typically happens- we tend to buy new items to match our varying and developing taste.

​#artbyMaitreyi #spring #bookcover #artbook #maitreyigautam  #greenliving #repurposeforsustainability   #RRR #sustainableideas   #artandcrafts