Greening the conscious

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club's CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.

The colour theme for today's post is Green. 

The colour Green is an oft abused colour when it comes to expressing the natural world around us. Anything environmental/eco-friendly is green. Conferences on ecology/environment have splashes of green all over and the staff members also proudly display their green coloured attires complemented by green coloured folders, pens and other paraphernalia. Of late, many news reports and conscious citizens have reduced the effects of the corona virus to mention that there is less pollution, the air is clearer, the mountains are visible and so on. Some exclaim, "The green world is happy!" While this realisation is dear, it is also a gross reduction of the whole environment that has improved in say one or two months. 

A fern that I captured with my mobile camera while on a trip to Amboli, a hill station in South Maharashtra in August 2018
This is incidentally called an 'eco-hotspot'

One of my academic peers and ecocritic, Stacy Alaimo writes on her Facebook wall,

"Just because people are hearing more birds, and cetaceans are hearing fewer ships, doesn't mean that the oceans are not full of plastic, the world isn't full of toxic chemicals and radiation, and countless species and habitats and ecosystems have already been destroyed. Those species will not magically return. . . ."

The same birds which have been there are singing everyday but given the condition of the quiet around, people are waking up to the same. Green has come to signify the earth and anything that concerns the earth but sadly it stops with just that. There is an 'eco' prefix in many activities be it a corporate company's CSR or a cosmetic product which often lures probable customers with the 'eco' prefix. Synonymous with the colour green and the prefix 'eco' are the words, 'organic,' 'natural,' 'bio, and so on. It's wonderful that many of us have become aware of the ongoing climate change and the rapid acceleration rate of habitats and ecosystems but how much could we contribute and take responsibility.

I leave you with the words of Alaimo,

"The broken and horribly unjust systems will cause the most vulnerable to suffer and die during the pandemic. And struggles for social justice and environmentalism will most likely be even more daunting once things return to "normal," given that the crisis will be used as a reason for accelerated extractivism and social austerity."

Towards a cleaner, healthier and organic 2017

For quite some time, my family and I have embarked on the journey towards eliminating chemicals from our everyday life. Slowly yet steadily we are trying, exploring - one product at a time. Most of my time is spent checking out various sites which deal with selling chemical-free and natural products. I have come to realise that a drastic change as this requires a lot of groundwork and research. In spite of our interest and research, there are many products which I cannot rid of - lipsticks, perfumes and other such. I did find cosmetics which claim to be 'natural' but I am not quite satisfied with the results. Someone suggested that I stop wearing lipsticks and I have also been contemplating on this but still to arrive at a decision - So far, I'm happy to let my lips soak the chemicals.

In my early stages of research the website Mindbodygreen was helpful to me in many ways to simplify things, eat mindfully and practice some lovely affirmations. Though these days, I only visit MBG occasionally, I remember the wonderful lessons I had learnt from there. I guess I had taken all that I have needed and moved on.

One big step which we as a family decided to take was in the section of food - trying to consume foodstuff that were local and nutritious. I must admit that Broccoli, Strawberries and the like are also consumed by us and they are definitely not local but healthy. Another product which I have added to my daily cooking is using Virgin coconut oil. Earlier I was under the impression that using coconut oil for cooking would increase the cholesterol levels but discussing with nutritionists and reading literature on this topic helped me abate my doubts. But I had to look hard to procure pure coconut oil. It was then that my blogger pal, Vishnu Vardhan started his venture named Indian Super Heroes, based in Coimbatore, committed to providing authentic Indian organic stuff to people in search of the same. The concept of ISH is something that is simple and revolutionary - working with local people to source, grow and provide organic products to people, markets and society. Small scale ventures have always caught my interest and attention because they deal directly with the farmers without the interference of middle-men and commissions. And, the products are made with utmost care and love unlike the large-scale machines which are quite impersonal and stiff. And another reason for us to go organic is trying to support local and native products.

My first purchase with ISH 500 ml of coconut oil and a peppermint soap and I am excited now as I write this because many more products have been introduced by Vishnu Vardhan and his efficient women team. The soap does not dry the skin like the other famous soaps like Lux, Dove, Santoor and so on. It has a mild fragrance and a soothing effect on the skin. I have also previously used only handmade soaps procured from different sources and glad to now find it in ISH.

I am also looking to procure traditional and local items like millets, organic turmeric, wild honey and a wide range of products. There was a time I used to order items from ten different places and await their arrival but now after ISH, I guess I could order items from the same place. The website is still in its nascent stage but Vishnu tells me that it will soon be fortified.

If interested, you could procure products from Indian Super Heroes here:

Website: http://indiansuperheroes.com/ & http://indianorganic.store/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/SuperHeroesIndia/?fref=ts

The Focus Areas of ISH

I would like to know if you have been going organic and chemical-free too. If yes, what are some simple changes that you have made in your home and life-style?