Permaculture flourishing in the Amazon:

“I saw poverty all my life” Carla tells me. Carla Noain Park comes from a city called Iquitos in Peru located on the Amazon river where she once studied to be a teacher. “I always wanted to help my people” she tells me. However, it wasn’t until she married her husband and moved to the US, that this dream became a reality.

When anthropology and film making brings cultural understanding to your village:

“I don’t believe in giving people a voice as people already have a voice. I believe in giving them a microphone to tell their story” says Martha M. Foster the founder, President and CEO of Living Earth Television and member of WiserEarth.org. A lifelong documentary curator and anthropologist, Martha’s work focuses on helping people understand each other across cultural borders.

Climate change activist focuses on empowering others in Zambia

“My ambition is to empower the local community. When we empower people, they are more likely to want to create their own businesses. It is only when we do this that they will start to take care of the environment around them.” ~Auldridge Chibbwalu 

It’s OK to be against growth!

Dave Gardner is the producer of GrowthBusters, a controversial new film which seeks to de-bunk the myth that growth leads to progress. “I am suggesting that there may be another way of living. True sustainability is progress, yet many people believe that limits to growth go against progress. I am embracing the end of growth,” he says.

Moving back to the US after nearly five years in India, I was very much aware that my carbon footprint was about to increase substantially. Every time I visited, I’d gasp in horror at the packaging waste, the lights left on without anyone in the room, the unnecessary car trips taken whimsically. Whether or not I was ready for it, I was returning to the American culture of excess. Thankfully, I have found several inspiring films that help me keep alive the hope that things can change here. Below is a montage of the films I recently seen which examine ways to live more sustainably and sensibly, with my brief take on them.

 

 

In pure immigrant fashion, last weekend we moved from one sub-let apartment in Astoria, New York, to another, bigger one via pushcart. The big dent in the plan was Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, who had yet to rear her not-so-ugly head and the preparations were on in full force throughout the paranoid city. By Friday afternoon, I was enjoying the calm before the storm by ignoring all the news, but suddenly it all hit me and I panicked.

We were moving to only a block away from the “C” evacuation zone–should we spend the night in our old apartment, just a block away? Should we rush and try to transfer all our stuff on Friday night, before everything shut down the next day? I started throwing things in the suitcase and running around like crazy. Why was my husband not sensing the urgency and continuing to work? After a quarrel, I only made a couple trips before collapsing in exhaustion. But after eating dinner, we finished most of the packing and waited for Saturday, and Irene, to show her face.

I awoke at 5:30am in a state of emergency, the only way out of which was to get busy. We had to get everything done before it started raining, which could happen at any minute as far as I was concerned. The weather reports said it would rain “by late morning.”  By 7am we had brought the first of many cartloads to our new place and inherited a new cart so that our efficiency could be doubled. We finished around 11am and it was only just starting to drizzle; we were at the uber-crowded supermarket at 1ish when it started to pour, but then it stopped soon after. So we just began waiting, too fatigued to do much else. We watched a movie and enjoyed ourselves.

We noticed some loose windows by the time the winds picked up on Saturday night. Unfortunately, we also had an active leak in the bathroom, which was un-Irene related and which we had known about previously. By Wednesday, the crack finally became a hole. Fortunately on that day, we had a friend from Jaipur visiting and spent most of the day sight-seeing with him!

We have been cleaning more than we ever have in our lives, and just when it feels never-ending I begin to notice how much we’ve done. It’s rewarding to see the results of our labor, and to create a new home together. But it has also brought up some issues from our past in Jaipur.

I’m not exactly sure why I’m more tolerant of the difficulties we’re facing here, and why things bothered me more there. We also had some leaks there which really got under my skin. Maybe I’m more mature, and I’ve learned that problems exist everywhere; maybe I’m just more willing to be here than I was there.  Either way, I constantly feel like I’m at a crossroads–shedding the past and hurtling towards a mysterious, miraculous future.

I really wish I had more before and after photos, but in the heat of the moment I couldn’t capture much. I guess I had more on my mind at the time!

This post is a photo montage celebrating the rest of this miraculous day, complete from Post Office, to post-Post Office cheesecake, to “Yay” and “Wow” topiary sculptures in Socrates Sculpture Park. Enjoy!

mmm cheesecake!

Much to my surprise, I’m slowly discovering how to live sustainably in New York. When we left India, I was well aware that we were leaving more than just a place, but a certain lifestyle and mentality. Sure, its slow pace would frustrate me on many occasions–even cows have right of way!–but it’s something I now look at nostalgically, with fondness. I’m looking into volunteering in local community gardens, and discovering that there are several farmer’s markets in Queens, where I can even deposit compost. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, because New York has it all; but I’m new here and it’s easy to be distracted by the glitz and flashy lights.

Last week, I attended part of No Impact Week at Jivamukti. Naturally I watched the “No Impact Man” documentary beforehand on Netflix, and was struck by the similarities between the way Colin (No Impact Man) lived and the way we lived in India by default. On Friday, we all went to see “Bag It,” which provided the inspiration to be more firm in my commitment to living sustainably. The trailer is below. In a nutshell–Plastic doesn’t just go away; reduce (that means buy less, people!), reuse, then recycle… If you’re into eco-conscious media, definitely check out the Story of Stuff, too.

[youtube 9AV2hp8s_eE]

Gaurav from Pathfynder discussed successful social media campaigns from India, like Ek Jodi Kapra, Whirlpool’s CSR project, and Bell Bajao on domestic violence. He also shared about social media projects he’s involved with in Jaipur, like Umang, a school for disabled children, and the local group of INTACH, for preserving the city’s heritage.

Vivek from Shristhi presented on their tree-planting work and the challenges that they face in the local community. We had a lively discussion on how they can build more local awareness through social media and their website, and with Earth Day coming up this month we look forward to plenty of opportunities for action.

It became clear that there are many possibilities for collaboration, now we just have to take them up and make them happen!

Since last summer was particularly rough–we lived in our bedroom and hardly ventured out–we’re taking lots of precautions. As you can see below, we celebrated Sunday’s holiday by getting blacked out. This room is usually our office, but since it’s on the Western side it takes a beating from the afternoon sun. So we said “Goodbye Mr. Sun,” by shutting him out and shifting our desk into the living room. (Please note that the bright spot is not actually direct sunlight!)

Despite feeling fit and well, the heat can totally drain me of brain- and will-power. It also tends to make me go a bit mad, but not like the dogs & Englishmen who go out in the noon day sun. That means I basically hibernate!

Do you live someplace cold? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below…

At least I can enjoy this song from the cool comfort indoors:

[youtube MIDOEsQL7lA]

It takes disaster to shake us out of our illusions of independence and realize that we’re all in connected.

Japan is on my mind a lot, as I’m sure it is for all of you. And I found myself drawing a certain parallel to something I observed after my grandmother’s death: the Jewish tradition of sitting shiva, a 7-day period for visitors to support those mourning, helps to ease suffering by providing distraction and entertainment. The house stays filled with people, sometimes crying but more often reminiscing and sharing happy memories. But I couldn’t help but wonder, where were all these people before? Some family members I was meeting for the first time.

Now I find it interesting that during a disaster such as is happening in Japan, or that happened in Haiti or Chile, people become willing to contribute, to drop their pretenses and become compassionate. Only during times of duress are people more willing to come together, to recognize their mutual humanity.

This is not to underplay the significance of random acts of kindness. But I wish they could happen on a much larger scale, for continued periods. I wish our political and economic systems could be based on our compassion rather than competition. (A care economy, so to speak.)

Please donate generously to Japan:  Salesforce Foundation is matching donations 1 for 1!

I watched this video & found it quite relevant:

[youtube l7AWnfFRc7g]

Of course, clean water sources and safe sanitation are other aspects, but not ones that people themselves always have control over (they involve government intervention). So the handwashing approach aims to instruct children and adults on the causes of diarrhea and the ways to avoid it.

[youtube 825gGELjB98]

Watch for more on this as I will be attending the state launch of Global Handwashing Day in Jaipur on 13 November!

On the way back, me and Mayank from Netsquared Jaipur discussed how the JRF’s activities can be better documented through the use of photo and video (he took all the photos yesterday!). We also shared tips on how the website can be improved to clarify the Foundation’s activities to the viewer.

It was quite a pleasure being there with the villagers and especially the children. It was such a picturesque location. I also truly enjoyed being able to plant a couple trees myself!

For the full report, see here on 350.org.