Looking Inward instead of Outward and Walking the Talk…(my post japan trip report)
40 fantastic participants from 14 countries, 14 fabulous days with 3 well fed meals a day, 3 motherly guides, government officials, university professors, at least a dozen hardworking staff from the Japan Foundation and countless behind the scene people who cleaned our bathrooms, made our beds, serve us breakfast and coffee, drove us to our destinations and made our stay in Japan memorable; many thoughts were churned out during this period.
I decided on this title as many of us during this trip saw, learnt, observed and tried to be more mindful of our actions; from refusing plastic bags given out at the am/pm 24-7 convenience shops to putting the “Do not disturb” tab on our doors the next morning NOT because we are anti-social but because we dun want the chambermaids to change our towels and bedsheets daily.
There were occasions when I was at the Shinonome Elementary School and Chubo Landfill Site in Tokyo when I saw so many similarities between what the Singapore and Japan Government policies on Education and Waste Management were. From the Eco-gardens/ponds inside the school compound to our stands on incineration; it was stunning! I cannot say much on the Japanese Government Environmental Policies as we were only given superficial introductory tours of the facilities due to the lack of time; but my government’s long term Singapore Green Plan 20121 seem to overly rely on using Technology to solve our environmental woes instead of looking into the mindless and excessive consumption ever so prevalent in Singapore. (or any modern city for that matter) . If we watch the media in most of these huge cities, there seem to be nothing wrong with our current rate of consumption; that all is fine, so long we can adopt the latest technology in handling waste, recycling and promote economic GDP growth. Renewable energy is going to solve our climate change problem; if only it’s only so simple. Going back to the pre-industrial way of life is simply not realistic; but we got to realize any developments in technology to counteract our human damage to the environment will never keep pace. Simply because our Greed will always be at least a couple of steps ahead of the latest technology.
Sustainable Development seem to be a nice banner to display but how many countries are actually doing it? Let’s us look inward at ourselves; as in individual.
In our initial reports submitted before the trip, I touched on our confusion between a NEED and a WANT; and this was blatantly exhibited at times during our trip as we were fed and housed in conditions where we would have burst our daily carbon quota. Of course we were distinguished guest from our respective countries and it’s only common protocol to give us the best but many of us did observe some took it for granted when they commented about the food and program arrangements; and when we have our evenings free; many would rather spent it on ‘mindless’ shopping; going to where all the glitter and action is and trying to satisfy our 5 senses to the fullest. I got to admit I was tempted on several occasions too; like buying a new digital camera.
Trying to change our lifestyle and mindsets takes time; and sometimes I think it’s harder when one is already a ‘leader’ in our own community. However, our actions and words have a far greater impact in our respectively communities as many of us mould younger minds and coming from more privileged backgrounds; very often with authority in our hands, we do have the power to change; and it all starts with ourselves looking at our daily actions and lifestyles.
We tend to be more lenient with ourselves and more strict with others in the course of our environmental ‘crusade’; thus if we bother to pause and contemplate; we are often Not ‘Walking the Talk’, but merely ‘Talking the Walk’. One very good example is by observing the number of participants who actually remembered to use their Re-useable Hashi(Chopsticks) given on the very first day. (we probably threw away 20-30 pairs of disposable chopsticks each during the entire trip; and recycling though good; it’s the least important among the 3 Rs as one still need water, energy and chemicals to recycle anything)
One very impactful and useful lesson I learnt during my 2 weeks in Japan is the fact that rubbish is often not collected daily; and even if it’s done everyday, there are certain stuff for certain days. (eg mon - plastic day, wed - paper day). I think this is a very good mindful exercise and thus it would be great if Singapore eventually has an annual “No Rubbish Collection” Day! We are starting small by getting organizations and schools to look at the quantity of waste being dispose of daily and concurrently talking to the waste collectors on the possibility of not coming to a neighbourhood to collect the rubbish for a day. We are facing several huddles on this as unlike other temperate climates, the stench coming out from rubbish not collected for more than 24hours in the tropical heat of Singapore would make many city dwellers cry foul; least to say the fiesta the flies and other insects would engage in.
This “No rubbish collection” Day will hopefully get the support of schools and companies on the 24th of October 2009; which is the International Day of Climate Action (www.350.org) . In addition, we plan to organize a coastal cleanup along the east coast of Singapore; a popular recreational spot for many on weekends. A Coastal cleanup is a very good start to introduce anyone to our fragile environment how wasteful a society we live in nowadays. The purpose of a cleanup is NOT to physically cleanup the place but to remind ourselves the next time we buy/throwaway stuff; whether is could be Reduce (by only buying/using what is needed not what’s on SALE!), Reuse (so that less would be thrown away daily) and Recycle if the above 2 steps cannot be performed anymore. Living in a “throw-away”, ‘one-time usage” culture is not a sustainable way to progress; and surely not a positive carbon-mindful lifestyle one should adopt. We hope a coastal cleanup can mould this mindset.
In fact if one were to go one step further, there are actually 2 more Rs to adopt even before we practice the conventional 3Rs. Re-think(Pausing and contemplating whether we Need to buy it or Want to buy it) and Refuse (not taking stuff we dun need). So the 5Rs should be Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.From the good feedback and response we had when screening the HOME movie on the 5th of june as part of the global release of this much awaited movie by famous director Yann Arthus Bertrand (Author of the book “Earth from Above”); we decided to spread this message to companies and organisations to book cinema halls either for private screenings within their company or invite schools and kids from children’s home and welfare homes to watch it together with them. This project is currently happening till the end of the year.
We also are discussing the possibility of project attachments for our volunteers to learn from our Asian Pacific friends made during this Jenesys Programme.
A Personal 10 steps for a Good Life that wun Cost the Earth2
1. Take a Walk (exercise, better health, psychological benefits from green space)
2. Enjoy the finer Things (Finer often means simplicity; think out of the box)
3. Have less, Do more (materialism doesn’t equate happiness; earn less-spend less!)
4. Time is not money (It’s much more valuable! Keep a diary)
5. Think Positively about the future and make plans
6. 5 Rs – Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repair and Recycle
7. Cut down Dirty Energy (energy audit, voting with our plugs)
8. Live authentically (be mindful of the ‘herd mentality’)
9. Get Creative (make music, art; it’s meditative and develops self-awareness)
10. Eat Well (We used to eat less meat(50% less) and less qty; we only have 4 out of 32 teeths designed to cut meat and our intestines are more like Cows than Lions)
The food industries – it’s almost as pollutive as our car exhaust!
Upon waking up
Take in couple of deep breaths; breathing; an activity which accompanies us from the moment we are born yet grossly unnoticed. And as we are mindfully breathing, spend some time thinking of one act we can do today Not only for the planet but for another living being.
A basic need - FOOD
Bread again? Rice again, or cereals again? There are currently 1 billion hungry people on this planet. Our weekly food bill has gone up; so has our quality. We all know people are hungry NOT because there are not enough food grown but more likely because luckier people like us are wasting it/not appreciating it enough. Take time to chew your food more.
Eating Again? Most of us are lucky enough to have at least 3 meals daily. No wonder 12.5% of global annual greenhouse gases comes from agriculture by-products (Transportation Fuels accounts for only 14%)3. Although in much smaller quantities; Methane(fart gas) and Nitrous Oxide(laughing gas) are 20 and 298 times more “heat trapping” compared to CO2 respectively.
Nutritionist have done studies that people who eat less live longer and we should try to stop eating when we are 75% full due to delay signals our stomachs sent to our brains; which is a further distance from our mouths!
A dinner feast anyone? Our ancestors only had 2 meals a day; having 3 or more meals is a very recently pastime. That is partly why coronary heart disease is by far the top ailments in our modern society today. The other 2 main reasons are a Meat-based diet and our mental-health(stress).
Dinners in many cultures are more a social event; in which case potluck parties and sharing of food is a good idea towards food wastage if one is not careful in the planning of who brings what and how much. Sitting together at a dinner table sharing stories or playing the guitar beats eating with the “trance-box” (TV) switched on; it’s less carbon footprint too! Medical evidence have suggested watching TV induces a mental state almost identical to clinical depression.
Comments
Have to walk the walk.